KARACHI - The Sindh government has announced to establish its own grid company under public-private partnership mode, which will dedicatedly work to evacuate clean electricity being generated in the country’s only wind corridor in Thatta-Jhimpir area of the province.
The announcement to this effect was made by Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh while speaking on Wednesday as the chief guest at the inauguration of 17th World Wind Energy Conference-2018. The three-day conference was organized by World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) with the theme “Re-energizing the developing world”.
The provincial minister said on the occasion that the proposed grid company would serve as the cornerstone of the Sindh government’s energy policy being pursued to harness the massive potential the province had to produce clean electricity on basis of its untapped renewable resources of power generation.
He said that Sindh government would establish its own grid company in pursuance of the same policy spirit, which had been earlier utilized to set up its own transmission and dispatch company for transmitting electricity from 100 MWs Nooriabad power plant-provincial government first own power plant under PPP mode-to Karachi.
Shaikh said that Sindh government had reserved 60,000 acres land in the province to develop renewable energy projects showing well its outstanding commitment to generate electricity using the alternative resources.
He said that 23 wind energy projects had started functioning in Gharo-Jhimpir corridor of the province while another 30 to 40 such projects were under different stages of completion.
The energy minister hoped that the federal government would readily grant permissions to the upcoming wind energy projects of the province much like the spirit shown by Sindh government to promote usage of renewable energy generation in the country.
He said that Sindh government would soon launch a $ 100 million solar power project in the province with the assistance of World Bank as this would benefit the residents of off-grid areas in rural areas. He said that renewable energy generation at present stood for mere 05 per cent of the national energy mix as this had to be maximally enhanced as electricity so produced was clean and economical, while it didn’t require any imported source of fuel as completely indigenous energy resources would be utilized for the purpose.
“Sindh government will do whatever it can do best and will fight for your cause to promote utilization of clean generation resources in the country,” said the provincial minister while addressing audience of the conference comprising investors doing wind energy projects in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, WWEA President Peter Rae hoped that 17th edition of World Wind Energy Conference would go a long way to explore the potential of renewable energy resources globally to ensure a sustainable and better world for people.
WWEA Honourary Vice President Air Marshal (Retd) Shahid Hamid said that Pakistan had been gifted with enormous untapped renewable energy resources whose proper utilization could not just be helpful to meet electricity demand of the entire country but could also generate surplus electricity.
CEO of Alternative Energy Development Board Amjad Ali Awan said that so far 23 wind energy projects commissioned in Gharo-Jhimpir wind corridor of the province had been generating 1184 MWs of clean electricity for the national grid.
Sindh Energy Secretary Musaddiq Ahmed Khan, Xiaohong Yang, Country Director of Asian Development Bank in Pakistan, Jhon Smith, DMD of USAID in Pakistan, Stefan Gsanger, WWEA Secretary General, Amjad Ali Awan, CEO Alternative Energy Development Board, Dr Irfan Afzal Mirza, CEO Renewable Resources, John Smith-Sreen, DMD, USAID, Ubaid Amanullah, Executive Director, Gul Ahmed Energy and others also addressed on the occasion.