ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: As commercial production of 106 megawatts of electricity comes into effect, Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar is confident that Pakistan will have power generation from ‘waste products’, small hydropower projects and ‘sugar co-generation’ schemes by 2014.

“Forty-five wind power projects of around 3,200MW capacity are under process and the Fauji Fertiliser Company will be adding 10MW solar generation to its 50MW wind project, making this a hybrid plant,” the minister said here on Wednesday at the launch of a commemorative postal stamp about Pakistan’s first wind energy project.

He said the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had been asked to announce the feed-in-tariff for solar plants early so that producers did not have to wait long for the same.

The minister announced that another 150MW wind project was under construction. “The next year will see at least ten more projects at an investment of over $2 billion,” he said.

The commercial operation of FFC wind farm is seen as a breakthrough for wind power generation at the Gharo-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor and the experts believe that the corridor offers power generation potential of 50,000MW.

“We are celebrating launch of the First Wind Farm in Pakistan, and Pakistan Post is also with us in celebrating a landmark in our energy sector,” Chaudhry Mukhtar said.

He acknowledged that Pakistan was an energy-deficient country and with fast-growing population as well as the economy the energy demand had increased significantly.

“There is a gap between demand and supply and we have made a comprehensive plan to change our energy mix to generate cheaper electricity by using indigenous resources like wind, coal and hydel,” he added.

FFC Managing Director Lt-Gen (retd) Khalid Naeem Lodhi said that his company was planning to invest more capital in the power sector and other wind projects with the collaboration of Chinese companies.