ISLAMABAD, Sept 21: The participants of a symposiumon "Private Sector Participation in Small and Medium Size Hydropower Development" here on Tuesday stressed Pakistan should develop inexpensive renewable energy systems, particularly in hydropower , to meet its growing energy demands.

The two-day symposium has been organized by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in collaboration with German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Integration-Environment & Energy GmbH at the Wapda Staff College here.

The symposium is aimed at highlighting investment opportunities for private investors and local communities in hydropower sector in Pakistan. Representatives of six countries including Germany, Sweden, China, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Nepal also presented their private sector experiences and implementing procedures.

In his inaugural speech, former Wapda chairman Shamsul Mulk said despite good visions, good action plans, supporting policies and a reasonably developed human resource available for the implementation of the hydropower projects, the country had failed to develop its hydropower system after 1980s.

After the Indus Water Treaty of September 1960 between Pakistan and India, he said, the country had done well to establish Mangla and Tarbela dams, but the "honeymoon" did not last long. In 1980s, he said, the country experienced load- shedding due to the flagrant gape between production of power and its consumption.

"The country had to produce more power for ensuring not only a developed industrial sector but food security as well. The thousands of acres of land irrigated by the Indus water basin was actually the "Indus food machine" that could be properly run by providing required power to the agriculture sector.

Power was a tool for development and a nation with more power meant a nation with more opportunities to grow." Mr Mulk lamented lack of institutions in the country and said the developing countries did not lack resources but institutions.

The GTZ Hydropower Promotion Programme (HPP) team leader, Rolf Johansson, said reforming the power sector through restructuring and deregulation was high on the agenda of Pakistani government for meeting the country's future energy needs.

Socially acceptable development of hydropower through the involvement of private sector was of particular importance, he said. Talking about the HPP, he said, the project was designed to give priority to the role of hydropower development; to develop and introduce appropriate regulations and energy policy reforms for use in sustainable hydropower development; to prepare strategy for developing and financing hydropower projects; to integrate concerns of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and World Commission of Dams (WCD) into appropriate environmental regulations; to strengthen the energy and power related institutions for ensuring the environmental and socially sound development of hydropower through dialogue with the decision makers; to promote and privatise small hydropower through schemes in off-grid rural electrification projects and to encourage private investors into the hydropower business for sustainable development.

In the symposium it was also highlighted that Azad Jammu and Kashmir was a land of opportunities. A total potential of around 5000 Mega Watt (MW) has so far been identified by the consultants namely GTZ of Germany and MECO of Canada and HEPO/Wapda in the area, while a large area of Neelum Valley was yet to be surveyed for identification of new sites.

However, most of the project sites in Kashmir required large initial investments, while the public sector was constrained to venture on implementation of those hydropower projects owing to which private investment was the sole option available, which must be optimally utilised.

In order to craft a new set of incentives for attracting private sector, the Government of Pakistan had brought out "Policy for Power Generation Projects Year 2002". Under the policy, small and medium power schemes up to 50 MW capacity would be implemented at provincial/Kashmir government level.