Federal Minister for Water and Power, Ch Ahmed Mukhtar on Wednesday said that 45 Wind Power Projects with a combined capacity of 3200 MW would commence feeding power into the national grid during the current fiscal year.
The Minister was addressing the launching ceremony of a commemorative Postal stamp celebrating inauguration of Pakistan’s first 50 MW wind energy project as the Chief Guest. The minister said that in the preliminary phase, 106 MW of electricity would be fed into the national grid by February, adding that another 150 MW of wind energy would also be fed into the grid by the end of 2013. Mukhtar said that another ten wind power projects worth 2 billion dollars would be added into the country’s power pool by 2014. He lauded FFC for undertaking commercial operations for exploiting the wind potential of GharoKeti Bandar Wind Corridor, an area that possesses an annual power generation potential of 50,000MW. The minister said that “I feel exalted that many more wind power projects are in the pipeline and would commence their commercial operations one after another in the coming months. Today, we are celebrating the launch of the First Wind Farm in Pakistan, together with our partners. I am glad that the Pakistan Post is also celebrating a land mark of the country’s energy sector. It is a combined achievement of all public sector organizations, including the Pakistan Post. Release of a Commemorative Stamp, indeed shows their commitment in encouraging all those who serve Pakistan with courage and dedication. A growing population growth and a growing economy hike energy demand and the present government added power into the National Grid by commissioning, wind, Thermal and small hydro power plants to fill in the gap between demand and supply. We have drafted a comprehensive strategy to alter our energy mix to generate cheaper electricity. I am glad that we all acted at the right moment for the national interest at the right time and succeeded”.
He said that the engineers had to identify and develop the Wind, Solar and Hydro potentials and with the help of AEDBs had commissioned state of the art power generation plants. He said that he looked forward on collaborating with AEDB in the future. The minister said that by 2014, projects titled “Waste to Energy”, “Small Hydro”, and “Sugar Co-generation” would also be made operational. He said that he was pleased to learn that Fauji Fertilizer would add a 10 MW Solar PV to a 50 MW wind generating plant, mutating the plant into a Hybrid installment. The minister concluded that “I have asked NEPRA to announce the Feed-in-Tariff for the solar plants early.”
Earlier, AEDB CEO, Arif Allauddin in his welcome address said that the country would witness mammoth alternative energy plants in the next decade. FFC Mnaging Director Lt General R Khalid Naeem Lodhi speaking on the occasion said that FFC was planning to invest into the power sector and wind projects with Chinese assistance would be commissioned by FFC in 2013 through 2017.
We can only wish and pray that the rosy picture the worthy minister drew by adding thousands of MWs in the national grid in the near future could be translated in to ground realities, when state of affairs are contrary to this dreamworld, as load shedding increasing day by day making lives of people miserable.
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