3,500MW wind energy to be added to national grid by 2018

The Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) has embarked upon an ambitious plan to enhance the energy mix by up to 20-25 per cent by adding 3,000-3,500MW of wind-based electricity to the national grid by 2018.

“Out of this, 1,396MW of electricity will be added to the system by 2017 as the AEDB would complete several projects initiated for alternate power generation by then,” AEDB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amjad A. Awan said in an interview on Thursday.

Awan said that currently wind projects of 255.4MW were operational across the country including FFC Energy (49.5MW) Jhampir, ZorluEnerji Pakistan (56.4MW) Jhampir, Three Gorges First Wind Farm Pakistan (49.5MW) Jhampir, Foundation Wind Energy – II (50MW) Gharo and Foundation Wind Energy I (50MW) Gharo.

He said that 28 ongoing wind projects with combined campacity of 1,396.4MW would be completed by 2017, which would play a major role in overcoming the energy crisis that the government is focusing on.

He said out of these, 9 projects (477MW) had achieved financial close and were under construction. These projects include Sapphire Wind Power Company (50MW), Yunus Energy (50MW), Metro Power Company (50MW) Jhampir, Tapal Wind Energy (30MW) Jhampir, Gul Wind Energy (50MW) Jhampir, United Energy Pakistan (99MW) Jhampir, Hydro China Dawood Power (50MW) Gharo, Master Wind Energy (50MW) Jhampir and Tenaga Generasi (50MW) Gharo.

He said that fourteen wind power projects with a cumulative capacity of 664MW were at different stages of project development and were expected to be completed by 2017-2018.

He said that power tariff for wind power projects had been reduced to 10.4 cents which indicated that this could prove a promising sector for future investments.

He said that Pakistan had a huge wind-power generation potential and if exploited properly, it could become a very lucrative and feasible source of alternate energy.

“Pakistan is naturally gifted in alternate energy resources and this has been identified by mapping assessment of wind, solar and biomass in the country through ESMAP’s (World Bank) assistance,” Awan said.

He said that wind potential had been evaluated at a huge scale in the country, “We have specifically identified wind corridors having power generation potential of 30,000MW.

He said that AEDB had identified the high-potential regions including in Southern Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab where electricity generation through wind had promising potential.