Pakistan has the potential of producing 150,000 MW of wind energy

The retired Brigadier held that this sector has grabbed the attention of investors while the Government is also keen on producing cheaper electricity thus it has adopted a lenient policy towards it.

Speaking on the sidelines of a briefing arranged for select media at the company site at Jhampir, District Thatta, Izaz said, “With eight projects of wind energy in progress, the country is all set to take off in this area. This will not only reduce electricity shortages, but will also help ease the burden of oil imports that cost over $12 billion annually”

Izaz believes that Pakistan has a very bright future in wind energy sector because of the wind corridors in Sindh. To support his point, the Brigadier said, the average category of wind speed in most parts of the world is between 6.2 and 6.9 metres per second (m/s). On the other hand, there are a few places that come under the good category where wind speed is between 7 and 7.3 m/s. For Pakistan’s advantage the wind speed in the Sindh corridor is stronger than any of the two categories mentioned above and it stands in the excellent category that is between 7.5 and 7.7 m/s.

According to a USAID surrvey, Pakistan has the potential of producing 150,000 megawatts of wind energy, of which only the Sindh corridor can produce 40,000 megawatts.

Fauji Fertilizer Company Energy Limited (FFCEL) will start producing electricity on commercial basis from November 2012, which will be the first addition of wind power to the national grid. FFCEL will initially produce 50 megawatts and later expand the capacity to 250 megawatts.

FFCEL, a subsidiary of Fauji Fertilizer Company, will start trial energy production from June, which will be provided to the national grid free of charge by the time commercial production starts in November.

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