A senior Ministry of Water and Power official on Thursday said, “The government has initiated an extensive wind power programme to meet increasing power demand and introduce renewable energy technologies in the country.” He said the government had established the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) mandated to work through the private sector in the field of Renewable Energy (RE). He said as it stands 64 percent of power generation is through thermal energy, 34 percent through hydel and 2 through nuclear energry.
He said the current annual shortfall was 4,000 MW and a 2000 MW additional capacity required annually to maintain the current growth rate with an investment of US $ 4-6 billion per year. He said energy supply must increase to 80 percent by 2015. He said increased by 7 percent annually over 2003-08 while with generation growth lagged behind at 4.8 percent. He said a detailed analysis to determine wind energy potential had been undertaken which had identified major wind resources in thenorthern Indus valley, southwestern and central Pakistan and elevated mountains summits and ridge crests in the north.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to approve a $65 million loan for a private sector consortium, including Fauji Foundation, for developing two wind power projects to generate 100 megawatt electricity.
According to documents of projects going to be sponsored by the ADB, its board is scheduled to grant approval before the end of this calendar year for Foundation Wind Energy-I and II projects.
Foundation Wind Energy-I project involves construction, erection and operation of 50 MW of wind power generation capacity at Kutti Kun, close to Karachi.
The project document states that this project will sell electricity to the national grid under 20-year take-or-pay off take contracts. The project sponsors are Fauji Foundation (30 percent), Fauji Fertlizer Bin Qasim Limited (35 percent) and Islamic Infrastructure Fund (35 percent).
Foundation Wind Energy II involves construction, erection and operation of 50 MW of wind generation capacity at Kutti Kun, close to Karachi. It will sell electricity to the national grid under 20-year take-or-pay off take contracts. The project spnsors are Fauji Foundation (20 percent), Fauji Fertlizer Bin Qasim Limited (35 percent), Islamic Infrastructure Fund (25 percent) and Tapal Group (20 percent).
These projects are unlikely to create significant environmental impact during construction and operation, and hence classified as Category B for environment, documents show.
The proposed project sites are not known to be claimed, used nor owned by local communities.
Also, no sites of cultural heritage are known to exist at or in the immediate vicinity of the proposed projects.
The projects are proposed to be classified as Category C for involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples.
Stakeholder consultations were carried out with institutional as well as grassroots stakeholders.
The main objectives of the consultations were to apprise the stakeholders about the proposed project activities; obtain their views, concerns and recommendations; and address them in the project design; and thus enhance the environmental and social performance of the projects.
The participants generally welcomed the plans to establish the proposed power plant in the area. Since the projects would not directly affect them, the villagers generally did not have any apprehension or reservation about the projects, the ADB stated in the project documents. On the contrary, they expected that the projects would bring employment and small business opportunities for the local population.
The projects are consistent with ADB’s long-term strategic framework (Strategy 2020), which emphasises ADB’s support for environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects. ADB’s support for the projects is in line with Pakistan’s 2009-13 Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) and the government’s strategic emphasis on energy sector development.
