“It’s abundant, inexhaustible and it’s clean,” says Sohail Ahmed, a strong proponent of wind energy. “Unlike nuclear and fossil fuels, this does not produce pollutants, heat-trapping greenhouse gases or hazardous wastes,” he adds. Last week he put up a second-hand imported 150 kilowatt (kw) wind turbine at a friends’ factory in Korangi, saying “it’s going to be the fastest growing energy sector in the very near future”.

“The turbine is attached to the local power company’s grid, in our case to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation and whatever electricity is generated by the windmill will be bought by the electric utility” Ahmed explains the working. The business model is unusual in that whatever is generated is deducted from the company's utility bill. The wind mill owner only pays the difference or if the turbine supplies more, then KESC will pay at the same rate that it sells power .

For more than two years Ahmed has been studying how countries in Europe, specially Germany, have been harnessing this source of energy. Germany leads the world in wind power capacity with the United States following. Spain and Denmark are in third and fourth place respectively. Some developing countries, too, have jumped on the wind power bandwagon. Argentina and India are making massive investments in wind power.

With energy blackouts predicted to getting bigger in the coming years in Pakistan, it becomes imperative that Sohail’s small initiative is taken seriously and replicated fairly quickly to boost energy production in the country.

Despite its enormous energy resources potential, Pakistan remains energy deficient and has to rely on imports to satisfy its needs. Oil and gas account for more than three-quarters of the commercial energy consumption in the country. Gas has emerged over the years as the leading domestic source of energy. The imports of oil account for 85% of oil consumption in the country and 42.8% of commercial energy consumption. The production of indigenous oil is around 15% of total imports of oil products, which is likely to remain the case.

The people who are gung ho about wind power say somehow they get the feeling investing in renewable energy does not have the same sizzle as, say, building big dams or developing islands to cater to the whims of the affluent. “The priorities are warped and politicians don’t çare,” says an insider in the Ministry of Science and Technology, requesting anonymity. The official has long studied ways to harness the wind energy. “It’s not that the government has not done enough research. Enough reports and feasibilities have been carried out, all that is now needed in implementation.”

The federal government established the Alternative Energy Development Board in 2003 to exploit renewable energy resources. Their target was to produce 2030MW through renewable means. “Everything is still only on paper and we have so far been able to produce less than 1 MW of energy under that board!” he says.

Last week the Asian Development Bank pledged $510 million loan to develop clean and efficient sources of power. Director, Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies, Ministry of Science and Technology Ghulam Umar Sarhandi thinks Ahmed’s idea “is a very doable, specially in the coastal cities, and Karachi would be ideal which already has a KESC grid.” The council has been setting up smaller turbines in remote villages along the coast where the electric company’s grid have not yet reached and the electricity generated by the wind turbines are stored in batteries. He says it would be ideal to have a windmill park at Hawkesbay and connect it to the main grid. “It’s done all over the world, and is the need of the day, but it’s the initial cost that makes people balk at the idea.” Ahmed, however, thinks that “lack of wind data makes it difficult” to gauge not only the potential of wind energy but also the suitable sites where wind turbines can be set up.

Most of the turbines that have been set up by PCRET are imported from China. A small 500 watt turbine and all other paraphernalia cost between Rs50,000 to Rs55,000. “It’s not something we cannot make here but the manufacturing cost almost doubles,” says Sarhandi explaining the reason for importing the machines. He however, suggests that once it is made more popular and produced on a larger scale, the cost will come down. “The material used here would definitely be of better quality compared to China.”

There are a few hitches. Foremost is the investment cost (US $ 2,000/KW) and capacity utilisation. The new equipment only becomes attractive if power is purchased at the rate of Rs 6.25/KW and above compared to Rs 3/unit/kwh (with all surcharges included) that KESC sells to its consumers at present . For residential purposes, this is a costly venture unless the government subsidises the effort. But for commercial purposes, it is an extremely viable option.” Ahmed, however, says the idea is not to sell electricity as much as paying for the extra (if at all) supplied by KESC, at the end of each month. He has already received a nod from the KESC.

Wind energy, is favoured along this coastal belt of Pakistan. Solar radiation is not strong enough due to cloudy/partly cloudy weather from April to September. However, solar energy projects have been initiated in some interior areas of Sindh where the sun's rays are better captured.

Another problem with installing photovoltaic cells in the coastal areas is of their maintenance. ''The cells have to be kept squeaky clean and this is not always possible due to the moist sandy wind blowing in from the coasts.” However, this does not hamper the working of the wind turbines.