Syed Marwan Shah

Situated at around 90 kilometers from Karachi, Jhimpir is the center of Pakistan’s greatest wind corridor, having the capacity to produce 11,000 megawatts (MW) of clean and green energy, reports WealthPK. In 2009, Pakistan’s first wind project was started in this corridor with just a few turbines and by 2012, the installed capacity reached 56MW. However, it is to be noted that at this moment, the total installed wind energy capacity in the region has reached 1,838MW.

Pakistan has the capacity to generate over 132,000MW from wind, according to an assessment by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It is also pertinent to note that wind energy generation contributes to the government’s goal of increasing the percentage of indigenous sources of power generation to over 50 percent under Vision 2025.

According to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) state of the industry report 2022, Pakistan’s total installed energy mix generation is 43,775MW in 2022. The public sector power plants contribute 23,045MW and the private sector power plants 20,730MW, including 100MW from K-electric. The power generation of the energy mix is illustrated in the following table.

Talking to WealthPK, Sarah Javaid, a research analyst who works for the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Research Institute for Market Economy, said Pakistan’s wind power capacity exceeded the solar power capacity. “Today, we only have 400MW grid-connected solar energy from the Quaid-e-Azam solar park, whereas we already have 1,838MW grid-connected wind energy from Jhimpir,” including the previously installed wind projects, Sarah said. In addition, the country is likewise intrigued by the solar energy and has an enormous capacity to produce it.

Pakistan’s present electricity needs can be satisfied by the solar photovoltaic (solar PV) power generation on just 0.071 percent of the country’s land. According to WealthPK research, increasing greener energy can make electricity cheaper, achieve greater energy security, reduce carbon emissions, and help Pakistan save up to $5 billion over the next 20 years. To achieve these targets, a huge and speedy development of solar and wind is required through a competitive bidding which would decrease prices. Efforts to reduce power generation from uneconomical thermal plants (in particular heavy fuel oil and coal) and investment in hydropower must continue as well.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk