ISLAMABAD: Pakistanis beginning to reap the benefits of Chinese investment inrenewable energy infrastructure, with the opening of the firstwind power project constructed as part of the hugeChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor, aimed at overhauling thecountry’s transport and energy systems.
The nearly 50 megawatt wind farm is located on over 680acres (275 hectares) of land in Jhimpir, near the shores of thepicturesque Keenjhar Lake, around two hours’ drive from the cityof Karachi.
Jhimpir is part of the so-called “Gharo-Jhimpir windcorridor” in Sindh province, a 180 km (110 mile) stretch ofcoastal land that the Pakistan Meteorological Department sayshas the potential to produce 11,000 MW of electricity throughwind power.
The corridor is home to Pakistan’s earliest wind project,which began in 2009 with just a few turbines and was upgraded toan installed capacity of 56 MW by 2012.
The new wind farm, which opened last month, has beendeveloped by Sachal Energy Development, with financing from theIndustrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Pakistan and China have signed around $57 billion of energyand infrastructure projects under the China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC).
Most of this investment is going towardscoal-fired power plants, fuelled both by imported coal and bycoal mines in Pakistan´s Thar Desert.
The CPEC projects aim to boost energy production in Pakistanto reduce shortages that lead to regular power outages.
The country can produce as much as 23,000 MW of power, butexperts say that there is a shortfall of as much as 5,000 MWduring periods of peak demand – and demand is increasing by theday given the rapidly growing population.
CPEC energy projects are expected to add around 17,000 MW tothe national grid in the next few years through what are beingcalled “early harvest” projects to overcome the energy crisis.
Most of these are coal-powered plants, such as the 1,320 MWSahiwal plant in Punjab, which was inaugurated this month.
But CPEC also includes some renewable energy projects.TheQuaid-e-Azam solar park in Bahawalpur, in southern Punjab, is
due to generate 1,000 MW, while a further 250 MW will come fromthe wind corridor in Sindh.
Zeeshan Ashfaq, a research analyst who works for the WorldWind Energy Association, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in
an interview that Pakistan’s grid currently has more wind powercapacity than solar power capacity.
“Today we only have 400 MW of grid-connected solar energyfrom Quaid-e-Azam solar park, whereas we have 640 MW ofgrid-connected wind energy already in Jhimpir”, includingpreviously installed wind projects, Ashfaq said.
ROOM FOR RENEWABLES
The Gharo-Jhimpir wind corridor, mapped in 2013 by the U.S.National Renewable Energy Laboratory, contains vast stretches of
saline land, unsuitable for agriculture and dotted only with afew bushes.
“Thirteen projects are already operational here and othersare in the pipeline.By the end of this year, an additional 200MW of energy will be added to the grid,” Ashfaq said.
In June, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), amember of the World Bank Group, announced that it will provide$66 million, and mobilize a further $172 million, to help buildthree 50 MW wind power projects in the Gharo-Jhimpir windcorridor.
Triconboston Consulting Corporation, part of a Pakistanitextile group that entered the renewable energy market in 2015,will operate the plants, which the IFC says will collectivelyform Pakistan’s largest wind farm.
The World Bank has now started mapping Pakistan’s entirewind potential, looking at wind corridors in Punjab as well.
“With global pricing coming down, the market for renewablesis kicking off.There is a lot of interest from investors,”explained Shabana Khawar, the IFC’s principal country officer inPakistan.
Khawar said the IFC is the largest private-sector investorin power in Pakistan and is focusing on hydro, wind and solarprojects.
She estimates that there are more than 2,000 MW ofmid- to large-scale wind and hydro projects in the pipeline.The wind projects include feed-in tariffs, which make themattractive to investors by guaranteeing payments for theelectricity produced.
In March, the National Electric PowerRegulatory Authority (NEPRA) set the benchmark tariff at 6.7U.S.cents per unit of power produced.
Amjad Awan, chief executive officer of the government’sAlternative Energy Development Board, said that because windpower production depends on the strength of the wind at anytime, it is important to create an energy mix, such as of windand solar power or wind and natural gas.
“We are entertaining hybrid arrangements and will be able tomanage intermittence soon,” Awan said.“In Pakistan we have more
than sufficient solar and wind potential to transform intoenergy.
And with a 20 percent decrease in prices since 2014 thenotion that wind energy is costly is a myth.”Ashfaq, of the World Wind Energy Association, said that “insome countries solar and wind energy is now cheaper than fossilfuels.
We too can leapfrog and move towards decarbonising ourenergy sector,” he said.“It took seven years for Pakistan to commission its firstbig wind project in 2012 after introducing its renewable energypolicy back in 2006. Now the market is gaining momentum,” he
said.
TOO MUCH COAL?
However, Ashfaq is concerned that the government’s focusremains largely on expansion of fossil fuel power, which ishelping drive climate change and worsening extreme weather inPakistan, including more droughts and floods.
“The government’s focus has shifted to coal power andliquefied natural gas (LNG) based generation.
The world ismoving towards renewables but (Pakistan is) finding solutions indirty fossil fuel generation," he said.Although Pakistan used to rely on oil-powered generation,Jamil Masud, an energy consultant who works for Hagler BaillyPakistan, a consultancy group, said that coal is cheap at themoment, and new plants can be put up quickly with a predictableoutput.
Pakistan’s first power plant fueled by domestic coal willbecome operational by June 2019, and once its second phase is
completed in mid-2020 it will generate 1,300 MW.
It has beenfast-tracked due to financing available under the CPEC.
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