KARACHI: Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the Sindh energy department to expand the solarisation programme and try to install solar panels in every house of the province so that people could get rid of expensive electricity and loadshedding, it emerged on Monday.

Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh, who held a meeting with Mr Zardari on Eid, told Dawn that the former president wanted the expansion of a World Bank programme to solarize over 200,000 villages across the province.

He said that as per his vision the solarisation project would be expanded to the provincial government buildings and establishments.

He said that Mr Zardari asked him to try to install solar system in those urban parts of the province which were badly hit by loadshedding.

He said that that the provincial government was setting up solar parks in Malir and Keamari for power generation.

The energy minister said that he briefed Mr Zardari about the opportunities for blue economy in the energy sector.

He said that the energy department wanted to work with Pakistan Institute of Oceanography to develop floating solar projects in coastal areas. “Floating solar systems and offshore wind projects can expand blue economy opportunities through affordable energy,” he added.

The energy minister said that land for water-based green energy projects was several times cheaper and unlike most land-based solar plants there, floating arrays could be stationary.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2023