Despite Pakistan suffering from an unprecedented energy crisis, the country has failed to tap its exploitable potential of 50,000 megawatts of wind power. Both China and India witnessed remarkable growth amongst the emerging economies by installing new wind energy capacities of 18,928 MW and 2,139 MW respectively during the last year.
Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) Global Wind Report points out that 38.3 GW of new wind power capacity was added around the world last year, and touched 200 GW of total World production.
It indicates that, for the first time ever, a majority of new capacity has been installed by developing countries and emerging economies; driven mainly by the booming wind sectors in China and India. It points out that the growth of wind power outside of the OECD has been primarily driven by the continuing boom in China, which now boasts the largest installed wind power capacity in the world.
The Chinese government has a clear commitment to developing the country’s massive wind resource, doubling its installed wind capacity from 2006-2009. A record capacity of 18.9 GW was added to the Chinese wind fleet in 2010, taking the total up to 42.3 GW. Wind power now represents nearly a fifth of all yearly net power generation capacity additions in China, nearly on par with hydro.
The report illustrates a similar picture in India, albeit on a smaller scale. It highlights that electricity shortages are common in India, and a significant part of the population has no access to electricity at all. But to address the problem, Indian government created a target of an additional 78.7 GW of generation capacity from 2007-2012, 10.5 GW of which will be wind power.
It indicates that the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) estimates that there is a potential of 48.5 GW of wind power development, but industry experts estimate that a minimum of 100 GW could be realised in India. At the end of 2010, India had 13.1 GW of installed wind capacity, with 40 per cent operating in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
In addition, the report suggests that like China, India’s wind power development has also spurred domestic manufacturing, and the Indian company, Suzlon, is now a global leader in wind power equipment manufacturing. It reveals that some 17 companies manufacture wind power equipment in India, with a production capacity of 7.5 GW per year, while the World Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE) estimates that it will touch 17 GW or more by 2013. GWEC report also highlights that wind turbines and turbine blades made in India have been exported to the USA, Europe, Australia, China and Brazil, while wind markets in the rest of Asia are only at the early stages of development despite considerable potential.
GWEC report points out that other countries in the region have also set ambitious targets for wind power development. Bangladesh, for example, has set a target of reaching five per cent of its electricity production from renewable energy by 2015; Mongolia plans to increase its share of renewable electricity from the current three per cent to 20–25 per cent by 2020; Sri Lanka wants to go from the current five per cent to reach 10 per cent by 2017 and 14.1 per cent by 2022 and Indonesia is planning to build 255 MW of wind capacity by 2025.
The report has put an end to the assertion that wind power is a premium technology only for rich countries, which cannot be deployed at scale in other markets. Highlighting the renewable energy prospects in Pakistan, the report estimates that Pakistan has wind power potential of around 350 GW, which is agreed by both the government of Pakistan and Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA).
While Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) studies indicate that the country has not only a considerable wind power potential but it can also supply electricity to some 5,000 remote villages through developing wind energy in coastal areas of Sindh, Balochistan and desert areas of Punjab. Pakistan is blessed with a wind corridor that is 60 km wide (Gharo – Kati Bandar) and 180 km long (up to Hyderabad).
However, to date no noteworthy development in wind energy sector has been witnessed in Pakistan and the country is still in the licensing and negotiating phase. So far, wind energy for power generation on a large scale has not been developed in Pakistan.
Wind power can generate 50,000 megawatt
