February 8, 2003	Saturday	Zul Hijjah 6,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said on Thursday that the government is trying to make power available at affordable price by selecting from the best alternatives available.

He was speaking during a briefing on power generation from solid waste by Pacific Noise and Vibration Managing Director Derrick Webster.

The minister said power generation from solid waste could be a good solution with conventional means provided the cost of the production was affordable for the consumers.

Mr Webster said the approach sought to provide water and power and collect and use garbage and contaminated and sewerage water.

The approach sought sustainable development by establishing solid waste and energy recycling facility with effluent treatment facility and generate power using gas, he said. He said it would exploit bio-gas from landfill and was environment friendly.

The minister was informed that cost per unit of power produced from solid waste would be roughly 5.6 cents per unit.

The amount of power produced depended upon the composition of waste, he said and added that 30 to 200MW power could be produced from the waste of a city like Lahore.

Mr Sherpao stressed that the present cost of power was higher. However, the power production from solid waste was an integrated approach, so possibility of investment using it must be looked into, he said.

Water and power secretary, Water and Power Development Authority chairman and Private Power Infrastructure Board managing director were also present.