WASHINGTON, Oct 18: A high-level Pakistani delegation arrives in Washington on Sunday to tap potentials for international investments in the energy sector.

The delegation, headed by Salman Farooqi, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, includes secretary water and power and chairmen of Wapda and Thar Coal Authority.

The delegation will discuss various energy projects in hydro, coal and thermal sectors with senior World Bank and US officials.

Pakistan is also seeking technical assistance from the United States for conducting feasibility survey of the Thar coal fields and on clean coal technology.

The team is brining proposals for medium to mega hydro projects as well. Pakistan has already identified various sites for such projects, including Suki-Kinari, Tarbela 4 and Manda. The proposed medium projects can generate 750-1000 megawatts of electricity.

Hydro is the cheapest source of energy in Pakistan, about five cents per unit. At about seven cents a unit, coal can be the second cheapest source of energy. Thermal, which costs about 13 to 16 cents a unit, is the most expensive.

To offset the cost of the thermal electricity, the government mixes hydro-electricity for distribution. This brings down the per unit cost for the ordinary consumer.

The delegation is scheduled to discuss its proposals for generating hydro, thermal and coal power with experts at the World Bank, International Finance Corporation and related agencies of the US government.

Most of its meetings are with officials at the World Bank and IFC.

Pakistan will be looking for both public and private investment in these meetings.

The delegation will also meet officials at the US Export-Import Bank, which is the official export credit agency of the United States.

In a recent interview to Pakistani journalists, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said his country was “absolutely committed to working with Pakistan on its energy needs”.

Mr Boucher said that Pakistan’s energy problems were balanced by its energy potentials, such as the coal field in Thar, hydro-power resources, alternate energy and the wind power in Makran.

The United States, he said, would help Pakistan develop these potentials. Mr Boucher, however, ruled out the possibility of a nuclear deal with Pakistan like the one Washington signed with India. “The nuclear deal is unique to India, not a model for anything else,” he said.

Pakistan’s energy problems, he said, were different from India’s and needed to be handled differently.