Groundbreaking of 50MW wind power plant in Jhimpir

Wind power generation growing at 25% a year globally.

KARACHI:

Pakistan is currently producing only 10% of the total potential of 346 gigawatts (GW) of electricity that can be generated solely from wind which has the potential to bring the country out of its current energy crisis, said Brigadier (retd) Tariq Izaz, project director of the FFC Energy Limited (FFCEL), while addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the company’s first 50-megawatt (MW) wind power project at Jhampir, Thatta, on Friday.

A subsidiary of Fauji Fertilizer Company, FFCEL is in the process of installing 33 wind turbines with a power generating capacity of 1.5 MW each. Eight turbines have already been installed and the rest of them will be in place within three months. He said the project was 60% complete, adding that it would commence production in June, which would be followed by full-fledged commercial operations in November.

The total investment in the project is $135 million, for which the company has acquired 1,283 acres of land. A company statement said it planned to establish more wind farms with a net capacity of 250 MW.

Speaking about the increased use of wind power all over the world, Izaz said the total installed capacity of wind turbines was growing at the annual rate of 25% globally. He said the wind power generating capacity in China was 62,000 MW, adding that the country increased the capacity by 16,000 MW last year. The wind power generating capacity in the United States is 47,000 MW, he added.

The turbines being used in the project are made by the German firm Nordex, which has manufactured over 4,800 turbines with a total output of 7,500 MW, installed in 34 countries of the world.

Izaz also praised the resolve of the German company, which stayed put in Pakistan despite travel advisories to its officials in view of an uncertain security situation in Pakistan during 2009. “Nordex stuck with us at a time when no foreign company was interested in doing business in Pakistan. I thank Nordex for its complete support.”

Addressing the ceremony, Alternative Energy Development Board Chief Executive Arif Alauddin said 2012 would see the financial close of $1 billion in wind power projects in Pakistan. “There’s been more private sector investment in wind power projects than any other sector,” he said, adding that the wind power capacity in the country was expected to reach 500 MW by 2012 and 1,500 MW by 2015.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2012.