Pioneer Cement Limited has brought a Pioneer Cement solar plant online at its manufacturing site in Chenki, District Khushab, Punjab. In a notice filed with the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) — the country’s main stock market — on Tuesday, the listed cement maker said it had completed and energised a 28.265-megawatt (MW) solar installation at the plant.
Plant goes live at Chenki
The company said it was pleased to report that the 28.265MW unit at Chenki is now operating. Megawatts measure how much electricity a plant can produce; the figure is the size of the solar array now feeding the factory.
Pioneer Cement Limited is a listed company, meaning its shares trade on the PSX and it must disclose major projects to investors. The filing is the firm’s own account of the commissioning.
Capacity headed to 31MW
The same notice said project capacity has since been enhanced from 28.265MW to 31MW. The additional capacity is expected to be commissioned within the next month.
With this Pioneer Cement solar plant in service, the company expects environmentally sustainable power sources to meet about 45% of its annual power requirements. It also said the development should significantly reduce power costs, improve operational efficiency and support profitability and sustainability objectives.
Factories turning to solar
Cement making uses large amounts of electricity. Energy-intensive industries in Pakistan are increasingly looking at alternative energy to manage power bills and keep plants running more efficiently. National solar capacity has expanded sharply in recent years: installed solar rose from 321MW in 2021 to 4,124MW by December 2024, and by 2025 solar made up about 20% of Pakistan’s electricity generation, up from about 3% at the start of the decade. Pakistan has also been among Asia’s top markets for solar panel imports from China, with 13 gigawatts imported in the first half of 2024 compared with around 5GW in 2023. The Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) has reported that 33 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic panels are already installed across the country.
That shift can help factories cut grid purchases, but lower industrial demand for grid electricity also pressures distribution companies and conventional plants. Pioneer Cement’s project sits in that wider move toward on-site renewable generation in heavy industry.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pioneer Cement ne Punjab ke Khushab district mein apna solar plant chalu kar diya hai. Abhi yeh 28.265 megawatt ka hai, aur company kehti hai ek mahine ke andar capacity 31 megawatt tak barh jayegi. Is se factory ki bijli ka bohot sa hissa solar se aane ki umeed hai — lagbhag 45% — aur kharcha kam ho sakta hai. Ordinary logon ke liye seedha bill change nahi bataya gaya, lekin cement industry bijli bachane ke liye solar ki taraf ja rahi hai.
