Sindh Land Scrutiny Committee has approved 15,089 acres of state land for the development of 21 wind and solar power projects with a capacity to produce 1,880 MW of electricity, provincial energy department officials said on Sunday.
Sharing detail of the scheme, the officials said that 33 energy projects were proposed under the Sindh’s dedicated Land Grants Policy in June this year for the development of renewable energy.
However, land for 21 projects in districts Thatta, Jamshoro, Shaheed Benazirabad, Larkana and Sukkur was approved on the basis of detailed working papers prepared by Land Utilisation Department and reports of the Expert Committee constituted by the Sindh chief minister. The Land Scrutiny Committee in its recent meeting unanimously approved the availability of 15,089 acres.
The officials said that Sindh is the only province that has announced a dedicated land grants policy for energy projects to counter power shortage, and added that proposals for 12 wind projects with land requirement of 6,622 acres will be placed in the next meeting of the Land Scrutiny Committee to be held shortly.
Twelve of the projects could not be discussed as concerned district administration was not able to provide the required land availability reports to the committee in its first meeting.
Different national and international power producing companies were said to have submitted bank guarantees to Sindh Energy Department for project development and subsequent construction under the Federal Government Renewable Energy Policy 2006.
The power produced by these projects will be evacuated by National Transmission and Dispatch Company under the tariff rates approved by NEPRA, said the provincial energy department officials.
The officials also reminded that Sindh, under the Pakistan Vision 2025 envisaged by the Planning Commission of Pakistan, had submitted plans to produce at least 4,000 MW through a series of renewable energy projects by 2020.
They emphasised the need to harvest clean energy resources in view of high fuel costs of furnace oil and other fossil fuels and pressed for strict monitoring and timely completion of the project.
Officials said that energy projects in Sindh had been listed as “priority projects” under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
They said that state-of-the-art technologies were being employed for maximum energy yields and that a level-playing field was being provided to local and international investors. They expressed confidence that Sindh could become the largest renewable energy producer in the country in near future.
