ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: The government on Friday approved a 45-megawatt windmill power project for Karachi under a 400 megawatt wind energy programme to be implemented at a cost of $400 million.

The project was approved by the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), which consists of the New Park Energy, a consortium of General Electric (wind energy) Germany, Dorsch Consult Germany and Albario Engineering.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the AEDB held here with its chairman Air Marshal (retd) Shahid Hamid in the chair. According to a press release issued here on Friday, electricity produced by the windmill farm will be provided to the Karachi Electric Supply Company.

During the meeting, representatives of the consortium gave a detailed presentation about the project and said that the consortium had 125 years of global experience of power production and 20 years' experience in the wind energy technology.

Chief Executive of New Park Energy Saeed Akhtar said Pakistan was facing a severe energy crisis. The consortium, he said, proposed to help the government by using wind energy to produce power. The proposal was based on an investment of over $400 million by the consortium to ultimately generate 400 megawatts in phases of 45 megawatts, he said.

Mr Akhtar said that huge amounts in foreign exchange spent on importing oil for energy generation could be saved for investment in other sectors. This project could open the doors of development and encourage other foreign investors. The government has decided to provide land to the consortium near Port Qasim within two weeks to expedite the project.