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| June 3, 2003 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1424 |
100 wind power turbines to be installed
ISLAMABAD, June 2: As researchers and experts around the globe are working to explore and exploit renewable energy resources, 100 wind power turbines will be installed in coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan next year.
The country has already procured and installed 14 wind power turbines of 300 and 500 watt capacity, with the help of China, in remote coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan, to meet growing energy requirements.
Most of the parts of these 100 wind power turbines would be produced indigenously, except the generators, which were to be imported from China, Dr Ishtiaq A. Qazi, Director-General, Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET), told APP.
The long coastal belt of Pakistan was a potential source for utilization of wind energy and the PCRET is working for further promotion and transfer of technology with the ultimate objective of achieving complete indigenous manufacturing of wind turbines in the country, he added.
Pakistan, with high blowing winds in coastal areas, natural water falls in mountainous areas, scorching sunshine in vast plain areas, abundant animal wastes in rural areas etc., has a plenty of these natural, cheaper and sustainable renewable energy resources.
To a question, Dr Ishtiaq said, “a 300 watt turbine would just barely be sufficient to run about two or three lines of black and white television and probably a radio, so this would be just for one household.”
“It is the supply issue that is a problem, particularly in remote areas. To supply electricity from the grid, it is not even some times technically feasible, not to talk about economically feasible, and for those areas definitely the renewable energy can play a part,” he added.
“It is only the coastal belt, that is most feasible for such projects,” Dr Ishtiq said and added: “We are also working on other renewable industry projects such as hydro plants in mountainous areas, biogas plants, photovoltaic and solar energy.”
Recounting achievements in microhydel energy projects, he said that the council had installed around 250 microhydel power plants of 4 MW capacity in remote areas of the NWFP and Fata, making the use of small streams and natural falls.
The electricity so generated is used for domestic lighting and running cottage level industrial units such as flour mills, saw machines, rice huskers, oil expellers, maize shellers and cotton ginners.
Under an agreement with the Malakand Rural Development Authority (MRDA), the PCRET has also initiated a programme, with the funding of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for installation of 100 microdydel power plants of 5 to 50 KW in the Malakand Agency, Dr Qazi said.
Regarding the biogas, which is another cheaper source of energy, he said the council was putting in concerted efforts for the promotion of biogas technology in the country and for that purpose it had installed a number of biogas plants.
Dr Ishtiaq said that under an on-going project, the council aimed at installing 1200 biogas plants in four years, adding, however, we have already installed around 900 biogas plants in one year out of those 1200 plants.
The completion of this project would produce 1.6 million cubic meter of gas per year for domestic use, he added.
With regard to photovoltaic and solar energy, the PCRET DG said the council had developed the know-how and processing technologies in the field of solar cells, modules and systems.—APP
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