Electricity

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Solar power in Pakistan. On December 17, 2015, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approved upfront tariff for Solar PV Power Plants at Rs14.76 per kWh (years 1-10, North Region). Solar power in Dubai. On June 27, 2016, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) selected bidder for the 800 MW third phase of a solar park that will be constructed based on the independent power producer model. The selected bidder, a Masdar-led consortium including Spanish companies, had submitted a world-record-low of 2.99 US cents per kWh.

Solar power in Pakistan at Rs14.76 per kWh and solar power in Dubai at 2.99 US cents per kWh. Why?

Wind power in Pakistan. On June 25, 2015, Nepra announced new levelised upfront tariff of Rs10.60 per kWh for wind power projects.

Wind power in the US. On August 18, 2014, the US Department of Energy reported that “wind power is at 2.5 cents per kWh. This is especially notable because enabled by technology advancements, wind projects have increasingly been built in lower-wind-spread areas”.

On June 15, 2016, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) celebrated the 10th Global Wind Day. According to the AWEA, “over the past six years the cost of wind-generated electricity has dropped by 66 percent.”

Wind power in Pakistan at Rs10.60 per kWh and wind power in the US at 2.99 US cents per kWh. Why?

April 3, 2015: Nepra determined upfront tariff for LNG at Rs11.17 per kWh (years 1-10). More recently, February 17, 2016 the new LNG-based power tariff was calculated at 9.5 cents per kWh.

On February 10, 2016, Pakistan signed a 15-year, $16 billion agreement with Qatar to import up to 3.75 million tonnes of LNG. The settled price was stated to be 13.37 percent of Brent.

Question: When the world is going renewable – solar and wind – why are we going coal and LNG?

Yes, there was a time when renewables were expensive. Yes, there was a time when renewables were not dispatachable. No more; renewables are now cheaper and dispatchable.

According to a report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), “solar energy prices are at an all-time low, with the average price of solar energy in the United States having dropped down to 5 cents per kWh representing a 70 percent decline in power purchase (PPA) prices since 2009”.

The report adds, “The drop to an average price of 5 cents per kWh for solar PPAs indicates that solar power plants are an effective cost-competitive source of energy for utilities, and thanks to the relatively fast construction process, could be an essential component of quickly adding grid capacity (the report can be downloaded: https://emp.lbl.gov/publications/utility-scale-solar-2014).”

According to the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), “Coal plants will become as much as 70 percent more expensive if they include equipment to capture carbon emissions while offshore wind and solar costs are expected to fall”. According to the IEA, “fossil fuels are losing cost advantage over solar, wind”.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), “by 2025, average electricity costs could decrease 59 percent for solar photovoltaics, 35 percent for offshore wind and 26 percent for onshore wind compared to 2015”. Why are we glued to coal and LNG?

Someone said, “All power corrupts, but we need electricity”.

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.

Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com Twitter: @saleemfarrukh