Sindh to establish its own power grid company

KARACHI: The Sindh Government has decided to establish its own power grid company under public-private partnership mode, which will dedicatedly work to transmit clean electricity being generated in the country's only wind corridor in Thatta-Jhimpir area of the province.

This was announced 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-energising the Developing World".

The provincial minister said that the proposed 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, given its untapped renewable resources of power generation.

Shaikh said that the Sindh government would establish its own company in pursuance of the same policy spirit, which had been earlier utilised to set up its own transmission and dispatch company for transmitting electricity from 100 megawatts (MWs) Nooriabad power plant (provincial government's first owned power plant) to Karachi.

Shaikh said that the Sindh government had reserved 60,000 acres of land in the province to develop renewable energy projects proving its outstanding commitment to generate electricity using the alternative resources. He said that 23 wind energy projects had started functioning in Gharo-Jhimpir corridor while another 30-40 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 much like the spirit shown by Sindh government to promote use 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 5% of the national energy mix but this had to be enhanced as the electricity produced by it was clean and economical, while it didn't require any imported source of fuel with completely indigenous energy resources utilised for the purpose. "Sindh government will do whatever it can and will fight for the cause of utilisation of clean generation resources in the country," said the provincial minister.

Also speaking on the occasion, WWEA President Peter Rae hoped that the 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. He said the earlier editions of this conference had been organised in cities like Istanbul, Beijing, Cairo, Bonn, New Dehli, and Shanghai, whereas its latest version being held in Karachi would be highly helpful in promoting the renewable energy sector in developing nations of the world.

WWEA Honorary Vice President Air Marshal (r) Shahid Hamid said that Pakistan had been gifted with enormous untapped renewable energy resources whose proper utilisation could not just be helpful to meet electricity demands of the entire country but could also generate surplus electricity. He suggested that like the power generation sector, the transmission and distribution system in the country should be given to private sector for the sake of expansion of renewable resources for cleaner power generation. He said that the promotion of alternative power resources were necessary to promote the cause of a clean and green Pakistan.

Alternative Energy Development Board Chief Executive Officer Amjad Ali Awan said that so far 23 wind energy projects commissioned in Gharo-Jhimpir wind corridor of the province had been generating 1,184 MWs of clean electricity for the national grid. He said that the present government should actively pursue the goal to massively expand the renewable power sector of the country while showing complete ownership and commitment to this cause for the sake of energy security of the country.

Awan said that for massive growth of renewable energy sector, a long-term, robust, and consistent policy should be adopted in the country that should remain unchanged as such a policy would provide the requisite enabling framework for the purpose.



Sindh Energy Secretary Musaddiq Ahmed Khan said that it was high time for Pakistan to utilise the option of power generation through the means of alternative energy resources owing to the phenomenal incentives in terms of lesser tariff for power consumers and saving of foreign exchange reserves as compared to other conventional resources of power generation, no matter how much efficient or cost-effective they were.

Khan said that while relatively big projects of wind energy were being built in the country, it was also right time for the prospective investors to introduce options of alternative power generation for the benefit of residents of off-grid areas.



Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Xiaohong Yang informed the participants about the massive contribution and funding being provided by the ADB to establish a strong energy sector of the country as this would also entail support to alternative energy projects being established in the country.

USAID Deputy Mission Director Jhon Smith also spoke about the dedicated financial support of USAID to wind energy projects being installed in the country including support for connecting them to the national grid on a priority.

WWEA Secretary General Stefan Gsanger also shed light on the aims and objectives of the Wind Energy Conference being held every year in different parts of the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2018.