The cement maker signs a deal with Chinese suppliers for a 15MW battery system and 10MW solar installation, targeting cheaper electricity and greater energy independence by March 2027.
KARACHI, Nov 6 (Focus Pakistan) - Pioneer Cement Limited plans to bank its daytime solar power and use it when Pakistan’s electricity demand peaks.
The Lahore-based cement maker told on Friday that it has signed a contract with Pragmatic Engineering Solutions FZE and China’s Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. The two firms will supply and install a 15 MW / 30 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Pioneer’s Chenki plant in District Khushab, Punjab. The deal also adds another 10 MW of solar at the site.
According to the company, the battery will let the plant use daytime solar power during peak demand hours. That cuts its draw from the national grid and, in the company’s words, brings a “substantial reduction in energy costs.” Pioneer added that the system will also support grid stability.
A 15 MW system holding 30 MWh can, nominally, run at full output for two hours.
The deal comes just three days after another solar milestone. On November 3, Pioneer told the bourse it had finished and switched on a 28.265 MW solar plant at Chenki. The company has already raised that plant’s size to 31 MW and expects the extra capacity to start within a month. Pioneer expects sustainable sources to meet about 45 percent of its annual electricity needs.
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If the new 10 MW comes on top of that plant, Chenki’s solar capacity will reach about 41 MW. The plant also runs a 12 MW waste heat recovery unit, which Pioneer bought from China’s CITIC Heavy Industries in 2015.
Cement producers across Pakistan have been racing to add storage this autumn. On September 30, Attock Cement approved a 20 MWh battery with 5 MW of solar. Eight days earlier, Fauji Cement’s board cleared 50 MWh of storage and 10 MW of solar across its Nizampur and Jhang Bahtar plants. Cherat Cement moved first, in January, with a 25 MW battery and 5.4 MW of solar at Nowshera. Cherat gave only the battery’s power rating, not its storage capacity in MWh.
Pioneer’s choice of partners matters too. DG Khan Cement hired the same Sungrow and Pragmatic pairing for a 25 MW solar plant and a 10 MWh battery at Dera Ghazi Khan. Pioneer’s planned storage is three times that size.
Pioneer starts this new spending from a strong position. It posted a record FY26 profit after tax of PKR6.59 billion, up 35 percent, on net sales of PKR38.58 billion. Its October corporate briefing showed long-term financing and short-term borrowings both at zero as of June 30.
FY27 started even stronger. Profit after tax for the quarter ending September 30 jumped to PKR2.21 billion, or PKR9.72 per share. A year earlier the figures were PKR1.28 billion and PKR5.61.
Chenki runs three production lines with combined annual capacity of about 5.2 million tonnes. It mainly supplies central and south Punjab.
A change in ownership also hangs over the project. Kohinoor Maple Leaf Group took control of Pioneer in February. The October briefing said a merger with its parent, Maple Leaf Cement Factory, is in progress.
Pioneer described the battery as part of its push for “operational excellence, sustainability and long-term stakeholder value.”
Investors now have two questions: what the deal costs, since the filing leaves the price out, and whether Chenki’s batteries start working before the March deadline.
