‘Sindh executing plans for maximum use of clean energy sources’

The Sindh government has reaffirmed its resolve to minimise the consumption of fossil fuels for electricity production by increasing reliance on renewable power sources abundantly available in the province.

In his message to mark International Day of Clean Energy on Sunday, Energy and Planning & Development Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the provincial government has expeditiously rolled out several policy initiatives to maximise the exploitation of abundant wind and solar energy sources in the province.

Shah said the construction of utility-scale solar parks for urban centres having massive consumption of electricity, and the provision of solar home systems for faraway off-grid rural areas with the World Bank’s support are the two cornerstones of the Sindh government’s policy aimed at increasing the consumption of clean electricity sources.

He stressed that as per the PPP’s manifesto, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah gave complete support and encouragement to increase reliance on clean energy sources to ensure interrupted electric supply to households, commercial centres and industries with minimal cost.

He said that in its current budget, the provincial government has allocated maximum funding to expedite clean energy projects in the province.

He also said that setting up the Sindh Electric Power Regulatory Authority and the provincial transmission & dispatch and grid companies are important milestones achieved by the government to promote electricity usage. Micro-grids are also being established to energise rural areas through solar power plants, he added.

The minister said the Sindh Transmission & Dispatch Company would fully facilitate the quick transmission of clean electricity by the private sector to energise the industries near urban areas under the special B2B electric supply arrangements.

He mentioned that solar power systems are being installed on the roofs of 48 public sector buildings in the province, with a total capacity to generate 30MW of clean energy.

He said the plan to distribute 200,000 solar home systems to off-grid areas under the WB-funded Sindh Solar Energy Project has already been initiated. Work is also under way to switch 656 public schools and 211 rural health centres to solar power, he added.

He also said solar systems with battery backup are being installed at public libraries at district level for uninterrupted electric supply. The government will provide another 500,000 solar home systems to electrify underprivileged rural households, he added.

Shah said the government has encouraged the installation of grid-connected solar systems, with a cumulative generation capacity of 250MW of clean energy in urban areas.

He disclosed that the Gharo-Jhimpir wind corridor has already been producing around 2,000MW of clean electricity for the national grid. He said the Sindh government has backed the installation of new wind power plants in the Gharo-Jhimpir corridor.

He also said the procurement of electric buses, biogas plants and waste-to-energy systems, the installation of electric vehicle charging stations under public-private partnership, and the supply of solar-powered cookers and geysers are other important initiatives of the government to promote renewable energy sources and lessen reliance on fossil fuel.

He called upon the federal government to back all the plans being implemented in Sindh to accelerate the exploitation of indigenous clean energy sources to safeguard the country against the worsening phenomenon of climate change.