KARACHI: The Sindh government is planning to establish a dedicated grid company under public-private partnership to evacuate clean electricity being produced at Thatta-Jhimpir wind corridor, said Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh while speaking at the 17th World Wind Energy Conference here on Wednesday.

The minister also announced that the provincial government, in partnership with the World Bank, is planning to setup a $100 million solar power project to benefit the resident of rural areas.

He said that the Sindh government has reserved around 60,000 acres to be utilised for renewable energy projects. He highlighted that, at present, renewable energy contributes only five per cent to the total energy mix and informed that the provincial government is working to increase the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy production.

World Wind Energy Association Vice President Shahid Hamid said that Pakistan holds enormous potential for renewable energy which is more than enough to meet the country’s energy requirements.

Alternative Energy Development Board Chief Executive Amjad Ali Awan said that in order to promote investment in the renewable energy, the government must ensure long-term policy.

Energy Secretary Musaddiq Ahmed Khan, said that it was high time for Pakistan to move towards alternative energy resources owing to the phenomenal incentives in terms of lesser tariff for power consumers and saving of precious foreign exchange reserves.

Jhon Smith of USAID also assured dedicated US support to promote alternative energy projects including ancillary support for connecting them to the national grid.

Currently, there are 23 wind energy projects operating in Gharo-Jhimpir corridor and around 35 projects are currently at different stages of completion.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018