GuarantCo and Bank Alfalah provide Shams Power with a PKR 1.5 billion (c. USD 5.2 million) finance solution to support the construction of 10 MW of small rooftop and ground mounted solar plants at commercial and industrial sites across Pakistan to reach grid connected businesses.

Shams Power is an established distributed solar developer with a total of 27 projects and an installed capacity of 25 MW across Pakistan. Eighteen projects with a capacity of 21.2 MW were completed and became operational under the first phase of the PKR 2 billion (c. USD 11.3 million) facility provided by GuarantCo and Bank Alfalah in December 2021.

The finance solution of PKR 1.5 billion (USD c.5.2 million) of senior debt provided by Bank Alfalah is 75 percent guaranteed by GuarantCo. The proceeds will support the construction of an additional c. 10 MW of solar projects across Pakistan. The second phase seeks to largely replicate the success of the first transaction working closely with the same transaction partners including Bank Alfalah and Capital Resource.

The financing solution will support solar projects across Pakistan, which will reduce reliance on the grid, save an estimated 10.2k of CO₂ emissions per year, and contribute towards progressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country. The transaction will make a direct contribution to SDG 7: Substantially increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix and SDG 13: Climate mitigation.

Business users will benefit from a saving of 30-50 percent on their electricity costs through the solar systems. The proposed solution increases businesses’ electricity reliability in case of black-outs and reduces their reliance on back-up diesel generators.