The president has asked for periodic reports indicating the progress made and the bottlenecks encountered by the projects, president’s spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told a group of journalists after the meeting.
During a briefing by the Alternative Energy Development Board, Sindh Revenue Board and Sindh Investment Board on wind power projects at Bilawal House, the president was informed that three wind power projects of 50MW each would start producing power within a year while work on another ten projects of 50MW each would start early next year. Another five projects were at initial stage of financial close in 2012.
The president said that incentives would be given to companies that would be able to start their power productions within one year.
In order to attract investment in the sector, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) last month announced upfront tariff for wind power projects. The upfront tariff is applicable for the first 1,500MW.
The move will save at least six months as this is the standard time taken to determine tariff by Nepra after detailed negotiations with the proposed investor, according to the briefing.
Zardari also directed to expedite the process of land allocation for 18 other wind power projects.
Zorlu Energy of Turkey, FFC Wind Energy and CWE of China – each with 50MW capacity – have reached advanced stage of establishment and would be able to generate power by December 2012, the briefing informed.
The president said that such project were a good start in the quest of finding alternate resources of energy which are efficient as well as helpful to reduce dependence on traditional modes of electricity generation. Wind power can also be established in remote locations where grid expansion is not practical, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2011.
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