KARACHI – Pakistan’s hydropower potential (theoretical possibility for electricity generation) is estimated at 40,000MW, yet only 16 percent is being tapped while there are no hydel power plants in Sindh, said provincial Electric Power Department Secretary Rabiya Javeri Agha.
She was speaking at a pre-bid conference held to engage consultants for initiating hydropower projects in the province. While presiding over a well-attended gathering of field experts as well as Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Unit representatives and interested national and international pre-qualified firms, she said that in order to bridge the substantial energy gap being faced in the country, the Sindh Power Department is working in PPP mode to engage expert consultants for conducting feasibility studies on identifying suitable sites for exploring setting up hydroelectric power projects.
At present, power generation in Pakistan is primarily thermal-based, which uses furnace oil and natural gas but it is time to change to cleaner renewable sources of power generation such as hydro, wind and solar, she said, adding that the wind corridor in Gharo has been identified to have an actual potential of around 50,000MW from wind turbines.
Agha said that as per the Hydel Power Policy 1995 and the Power Generation Policy 2002, the Sindh government is also in the process of developing a separate power policy and the Sindh Power Development Board as the one-window operation to facilitate investors in the power sector and encourage hydropower generation.
