The energy crisis in Pakistan can be mitigated by utilising the country’s resources, said Thatta Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Jaffar Abbasi on Wednesday at an event organised by Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s ‘Indus for All Programme’ to observe the World Energy Day at Makli in Thatta. The event was attended by representatives of nongovernmental organisations, academia, civil society and the media. “Sindh has immense potential for alternate energy resources that needs to be exploited at the maximum level,” said Abbasi.
Speaking on the occasion, Indus for All Programme Coordinator Nasir Ali Panhwar said Pakistan is facing an economic crisis mainly due to energy shortage. “Due to long hours of power load shedding, the industrial and agricultural sectors have been badly affected while hospitals and schools suffer as well,” he added.
Panhwar was of the view that the world’s landscape in energy generation is changing and the country should strive towards solar and wind energy production for its sustainable development. He said that the WWF under its Indus for All Programme has installed 63 solar, six wind, four hybrid and 96 biogas units at Keenjhar Lake, Keti Bunder, Pai Forest and Chotiari Reservoir. “A wind corridor along the coastal regions of the Sindh has the capacity to generate power of 50,000MW,” he added. Another speaker Rasool Bux Dars said that renewable energy has vital economic advantages that are absent in traditional methods. He also said that once installed, solar and wind farms have low maintenance costs and longer shelf-life.
