Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Renewable Energy to Tackle Pakistan's Electricity Crisis

In June 2007, the power cuts in Pakistan lasted no more than 3 or 4 hours a day. Today, in extremely hot weather, Pakistanis have to endure without electricity for 8 to 10 hours a day. Industrial production is suffering, exports are down, jobs are being lost, and the national economy is in a downward spiral. By all indications, the power crisis in Pakistan is getting worse than ever.

Extended Load-shedding:
Extended electricity load shedding in Karachi's five major industrial estates is causing losses in billions of rupees as the production activity has fallen by about 50 per cent. KESC, Karachi's power supply utility, is dealing with with a shortfall of around 700MW against a total demand of 2200MW. Almost all forms of power generation from fossil fuel-fired thermal to hydroelectric to nuclear are down from a year ago. As a result of the daily rolling blackouts, the economy, major exports and overall employment are also down and the daily wage earners are suffering. The KESC and PEPCO owe more than Rs. 10b to the independent power producers (IPPs) and paying them will help bring them into full operation and ease the crisis at least partially.

Electricity Demand:
As discussed in an earlier post, Pakistan's current installed capacity is around 19,845 MW, of which around 20% is hydroelectric. Much of the rest is thermal, fueled primarily by gas and oil. Pakistan Electric Power Company PEPCO blames independent power producers (IPPs) for the electricity crisis, as they have been able to give PEPCO only 3,800 MW on average out of 5,800 MW of confirmed capacity. Most of the IPPs are running fuel stocks below the required minimum of 21 days. IPPs complain that they are not being paid on time by PEPCO.

Per capita energy consumption of the country is estimated at 14 million Btu, which is about the same as India's but only a fraction of other industrializing economies in the region such as Thailand and Malaysia, according to the US Dept of Energy 2006 report. To put it in perspective, the world average per capita energy use is about 65 million BTUs and the average American consumes 352 million BTUs. With 40% of the Pakistani households that have yet to receive electricity, and only 18% of the households that have access to pipeline gas, the energy sector is expected to play a critical role in economic and social development. With this growth comes higher energy consumption and stronger pressures on the country’s energy resources. At present, natural gas and oil supply the bulk (80 percent) of Pakistan’s energy needs. However, the consumption of those energy sources vastly exceeds the supply. For instance, Pakistan currently produces only 18.3 percent of the oil it consumes, fostering a dependency on expensive, imported oil that places considerable strain on the country’s financial position, creating growing budget deficits. On the other hand, hydro, coal, wind and solar are perhaps underutilized and underdeveloped today, as Pakistan has ample potential to exploit these resources.

The country's creaky and outdated electricity infrastructure loses over 30 percent of generated power in transit, more than seven times the losses of a well-run system, according to the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank; and a lack of spare high-voltage grid capacity limits the transmission of power from hydroelectric plants in the north to make up for shortfalls in the south.

Gilani Government's Response:
Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project, first formally announced by former Minister Omar Ayub on June 10, 2007, is finally starting in earnest under the PPP government of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. This hydro project is expected to add 963MW power generating capacity at a cost US $2.2 billion, according to Business Wire. Prior to this project, the new Pakistani Prime Minister signed a deal with a Chinese company, Dong Fong, for setting up 525 MW thermal power plant with an investment of $450 million at Chichoki Mallian (Sheikhupura). Both of these projects are expected help partially close the 3000 MW gap that exists today between supply and demand in Pakistan.

Green Energy Opportunities:
In response to the warnings of energy crisis in Pakistan, President Musharraf's government recognized the need and the potential for renewable alternatives and, in 2006, created Alternative Energy Development Board to pursue renewable energy. In particular, AEDB is focusing on wind and solar as viable alternatives. AEDB is facilitating setting up of small renewable energy projects in line with government’s policy of promoting the use of renewable energy in the country’s power generation mix, says the board’s chief executive officer Mr Arif Alauddin. AEDB has recently issued Makwind Power Private Ltd (MPPL) a Letter of Intent for the setting up of 50MW wind farm at Nooriabad in Sindh, as part of its efforts to facilitate 700 MW wind energy by 2010.



According to data published by Miriam Katz of Environmental Peace Review, Pakistan is fortunate to have something many other countries do not, which are high wind speeds near major centers. Near Islamabad, the wind speed is anywhere from 6.2 to 7.4 meters per second (between 13.8 and 16.5 miles per hour). Near Karachi, the range is between 6.2 and 6.9 (between 13.8 and 15.4 miles per hour). Pakistan is also fortunate that in neighboring India, the company Suzlon manufactures wind turbines, thus decreasing transportation costs. Working with Suzlon, Pakistan can begin to build its own wind-turbine industry and create thousands of new jobs while solving its energy problems. Suzlon turbines start to turn at a speed of 3 meters per second. Vestas, which is one of the world's largest wind turbine manufacturers, has wind turbines that start turning at a speed of 4 meters per second. In addition to Karachi and Islamabad, there are other areas in Pakistan that receive a significant amount of wind.

In only the Balochistan and Sindh provinces, sufficient wind exists to power every coastal village in the country. There also exists a corridor between Gharo and Keti Bandar that alone could produce between 40,000 and 50,000 megawatts of electricity, says Ms. Katz who has studied and written about alternative energy potential in South Asia. Given this surplus potential, Pakistan has much to offer Asia with regards to wind energy. In recent years, the government has completed several projects to demonstrate that wind energy is viable in the country. In Mirpur Sakro, 85 micro turbines have been installed to power 356 homes. In Kund Malir, 40 turbines have been installed, which power 111 homes. The Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has also acquired 18,000 acres for the installation of more wind turbines.

In addition to high wind speeds near major centers as well as the Gharo and Keti Bandar corridor, Pakistan is also very fortunate to have many rivers and lakes. Wind turbines that are situated in or near water enjoy an uninterrupted flow of wind, which virtually guarantees that power will be available all the time. Within towns and cities, wind speeds can often change quickly due to the presence of buildings and other structures, which can damage wind turbines. In addition, many people do not wish for turbines to be sited near cities because of noise, though these problems are often exaggerated. Wind turbines make less noise than an office and people comfortably carry on conversations while standing near them.

As is painfully evident in summers, Pakistan is an exceptionally sunny country. If 0.25% of Balochistan was covered with solar panels with an efficiency of 20%, enough electricity would be generated to cover all of Pakistani demand. In all provinces the AEDB has created 100 solar homes in order to exploit solar energy.

Solar energy makes much sense for Pakistan for several reasons: firstly, 70% of the population lives in 50,000 villages that are very far away from the national grid, according to a report by the Solar Energy Research Center (SERC). Connecting these villages to the national grid would be very costly, thus giving each house a solar panel would be cost efficient and would empower people both economically and socially.

Coal Power and Hydroelectricity
In addition to high winds and abundant solar potential, Pakistan has the fifth largest coal deposits in the world. The negative environmental effects of coal burning can be be mitigated by making use of the latest clean coal technologies that limit noxious gas exhaust into the atmosphere.

Pakistan also has some deposits of natural gas in the Potwar Plateau region and near the border between Balochistan and Sindh, but these are likely to disappear within 20 years.

Because of the presence of many rivers and lakes, it makes sense for Pakistan to build dams to support water management and electricity generation projects. However, it must be done with care to avoid damage to the environment or loss of farmland.

Financial and Policy Incentives
Despite the fact that Pakistan is so well endowed with wind and solar potential, only a few projects such as those mentioned above have been completed. One of the reasons why this has occurred is that Pakistan does not have major financial incentives available for those who want to install wind turbines or solar panels. Let us look at the case of India, Pakistan's neighbor. Despite having less potential for wind, India now has the world's fourth largest number of wind turbines installed at 7,093 MW, according to India: Renewable Energy Market report. Ahead of India are Germany at 21,283 MW, Spain at 13,400 MW and the US at 12,934 MW. In Germany, Spain and India, those who install wind turbines and solar panels are guaranteed a certain rate per kilowatt hour. In India, this varies according to the technology and the area. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India reports that in most areas, between 2500 and 4800 rupees are guaranteed for solar panels, and for wind turbines, between 250,000 and 300,000 rupees are awarded.
Because of the above incentives, the cost of wind in India is between 2 and 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour while in Pakistan, the cost is 7 cents. In December 2006, President Musharraf announced a national renewable energy policy. This policy means that small projects do not need approval and that any person can put up their own project. However, there are no financial incentives for doing so. At the moment, all renewable energy equipment has no sales or income tax and is free of custom duty, but these incentives are not enough to stimulate major growth in the renewable energy market where ROIs and other financial ratios have a long gestation or breakeven period. In certain situations, such as the textiles and other Karachi industrial units losing production and export opportunities due to power cuts, it may make sense for the owners to join hands and build power generation capacity they can rely on.

Conclusion
In addition to coal and hydro electricity generation, Miriam Katz argues that it is clear that Pakistan is a suitable country for the installation of wind and solar: due to high winds near cities; the presence of rivers and lakes as well as the availability of wind turbines from nearby India. There are also other reasons for installing renewable energy. It is quite normal for extended power outages to happen on a daily basis in the country, but this cannot continue if the Pakistani economy is to grow. In March 2007, President Musharraf stated that renewable energy should be part of the push to increase energy supplies by 10 to 12 percent every year. The government also set a target of 10 percent of energy to come from renewables by 2015. If the new PPP-led government follows through with aggressive renewable energy push, Pakistan could be an Asian leader in renewable energy given its natural resources of wind and solar as its strategic endowments.

Related Links:

Renewable Energy Businesses in Pakistan

Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technology

Renewable Energy for Pakistan

Pakistan Policy on Renewable Technology

Sugarcane Ethanol Project in Pakistan

Community Based Renewable Energy Project in Pakistan

94 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great article Riaz. Pakistan should be bullish on alternative energy. NOW IS THE TIME!

Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

A good outline of ongoing efforts in the area of renewable energy.
When consumers would have the benefit ,any info on time line?

Riaz Haq said...

There is a ton of money and effort going into renewable, alternative energy sources backed by US government and private sector. I think the wind and solar are almost ready for prime time, as shown by German experience. Now it's a matter of Pakistani government's financial incentives and private sector's willingness that will determine how quickly wind and solar take off to make up a significant percentage of electricity generation in Pakistan. If done right, this sector can boost the economy by creating lots of jobs and electricity for consumers and industry.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a comment received via email on Pakistan's power crisis:

My Dear Riaz Haq Sahib..............

A Salamu Alaikum



I hope you are fine…….



I am sorry to disturb you as I wish to consume your some important time……



I am Raja Naveed Sarwar, from Pakistan….. I am writer and a researcher………I used to propose advices to the Government of time, on different issues………whether one acts or rejects, but as a citizen, I think it is my duty to play a role in every national issue that creates hindrance in my country’s progress…….



Sir, regarding the current electricity crisis in Pakistan, I wish to place some advices, and I hope you will also present your opinion in this regard…….



“The electricity crisis is the biggest crisis nowadays in Pakistan….. Government must pay the arrears of the electricity producing companies or IPPs…….. Government should negotiate with these companies and give them surety to pay their arrears as soon as possible… at the instance; Government should pay their arrears in the installments…



For the Thar Coal Project, I think we neither have finance nor the infrastructure to utilize this treasure…… So, it is better to invite the world’s largest companies to Pakistan and introduce our Coal reserves….. Any company can explore, invest and generate power, and plus utilize this coal for the production of Cement……Government of Pakistan can negotiate with these companies, and by the mutual partnership at the sharing basis, an agreement specifying the terms and conditions can be accomplished…….

For this, Government can also publish the open tender in the International newspapers……..



Government can even invite the present Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to use this coal reserves for the generation of Power, and in return they will less their present arrears, in the indemnity of this they should be directed to expand their present generation capacity…..so that the electricity problem can be lightened …….

We should allow the IPPs to use the coil reserves for the generation of the power at the mutual partnership with the Government (according to terms and conditions)…….



I think Government should call a national conference of electric companies, IPPs and renowned technical experts………then formulate a committee of high profile technical experts, who will draw the Power Policy in continuation with the Power Policy of 1994 and consider the current Supply/ Demand mechanism and the available options……



I know all this havoc is happening due to the weak economy……… In my last letter to Government, I advised:

“Pakistan also requires the “Economic Bail-Out Package”……… for this, Pakistani community around the World, Pakistani companies & organizations, Pakistani banks can play a positive role….. Through the “Round Table Conference of Economists” Pakistani Government can appeal to the stated parties…..

Government can launch a transparent “International Fund” that will also be connected with all the Pakistani Embassies and Consulates around the World…..”



President Zardari should address the nation as soon as possible and not only appeal to the Pakistani community around the World for financial support, but also enhance the confidence and morale of the depressed nation, that is going to the way of an insurgency….

I remember the time, when Mr. Nawaz Sharif addressed the nation as the PM, and appealed to the Pakistani community for “Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sawaro”, it was a successful step ……

I do admit, now people are clever and they can not come into these kinds of schemes easily, but, at least Government should try, in the different form……..”



Dear Sir, I am waiting for your reply……..



Regards,

Raja Naveed Sarwar

Pakistan………..

Anonymous said...

I have read the Articles on Energy Crises in Pakistan. As an Consulatnt in Power Sector, I agree and suugest that Solar is the Best Solution to meet these Energy Crises.

We at SOLARAGE TECHNOLOGIEs, Islamabad, Pakistan has initiated introduction os Solar Power Technologies in Pakistan. If any one interested can contact at:

M. M. HASSAN
Chief Executive Officer
SOLARAGE TECHNOLOGIES
A Group Company of:
NEWAGE GROUP
(An Independent Consulting Group in Pakistan in Power Sector)

Contact: 0333 - 850 7474
E-mail: mmhassan_pk@yahoo.com CC: solaragetechnologies@yahoo.com
MSN: mmhassan_pk@hotmail.com / solaragetechnologies@live.com (For CHAT)
SKYPE: mmhassan7474

Postal Address:

House # 1016, Street # 67,
G-9/4,
Islamabad-44000,
Pakistan.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a piece of news that caught my attention:

"Pakistan, Turkey sign wind energy pact"

Islamabad, Jan 17 (Xinhua) Pakistan Saturday signed a wind energy pact with a Turkish firm.

Pakistan’s water and power minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and chief executive of the Turkish company signed the agreement in Islamabad, the News Network
International news agency reported."

Here's a rather skeptical assessment I received from a person involved in the energy sector in Pakistan:

I reached the conclusion that based on economics,wind energy was best option and even Government Of Pakistan issued 80 letters of intent in this respect .I was trying to sell GE wind Turbines from Germany.But it took so long that when it comes to the stage of final negotiations,we found that all factories in the world are booked for two years and delivery not possible before 3 years.Most American companies found partners in India who capitalized on the situation and started manufacturing under license from foreign companies.We could not even get from India and chapter was closed.Then there was political mess in Pakistan ,not yet get cleared. Only this week Water And Power Ministry announced that it has made an agreement with a Turkish Company to build first Power Plant in Sindh using Wind Turbines.May God save this Turkish Company.

Riaz Haq said...

Oct 24, 2008: Pakistan will produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity through wind energy within the next few years, according to Irfan Afzal Mirza, Technical Director of the country’s Alternative Energy Development Board. He told the Voice of Germany that approval has already been given to over twenty-three projects producing 50 megawatts each.

http://www.windenergynews.com/content/view/1436/45/

Riaz Haq said...

President of Zorlu Enerji (Pvt) Ltd., Murat Sungar Bursa, who just signed a wind energy agreement with HESCO in Pakistan, said that the estimated cost of 50 MW project was 120 million dollars. He added the company was also considering to further expand the project upto 250MW.
He said incentives offered by Pakistan’s renewable energy policy was a major factor in the company’s decision to invest here. He said that capacity of the wind farm will be enhanced upon successful completion of 50 MW phase.
Zorlu Enerji was the first company to establish wind farm for power generation in Pakistan after signing Energy Purchase Agreement with Hyderabad Electric Supply Corporation for purchase of six MW electricity generated at the company’s facility in Jhimpir.
NEPRA has awarded tariff of US cents 12.1057 Per KWH, which is cheaper than the electricity generated from thermal sources. The power generated from the first phase would be routed to the Jhimpir gird station by HESCO and would be sufficient to electrify 6,900 homes in Hyderabad region.
Harnessing the strong winds coming from South West, the wind farm is first commercial wind power project of the country, comprising five towers in the first phase with an installed capacity of 1.2MW wind turbine generator per tower.



http://www.pakistanhousing.pk/News/index.php/govt-of-pakistan-plans-additional-4000-mw-power-by-year-end/

Riaz Haq said...

It seems green energy projects are suffering along with the rest of the economy due to credit crunch. The wind turbine orders are declining and companies manufacturing wind power equipment are reducing workers.

Here's a NY Times report on this :

Factories building parts for these industries have announced a wave of layoffs in recent weeks, and trade groups are projecting 30 to 50 percent declines this year in installation of new equipment, barring more help from the government.

Prices for turbines and solar panels, which soared when the boom began a few years ago, are falling. Communities that were patting themselves on the back just last year for attracting a wind or solar plant are now coping with cutbacks.

“I thought if there was any industry that was bulletproof, it was that industry,” said Rich Mattern, the mayor of West Fargo, N.D., where DMI Industries of Fargo operates a plant that makes towers for wind turbines. Though the flat Dakotas are among the best places in the world for wind farms, DMI recently announced a cut of about 20 percent of its work force because of falling sales.

Much of the problem stems from the credit crisis that has left Wall Street banks reeling. Once, as many as 18 big banks and financial institutions were willing to help finance installation of wind turbines and solar arrays, taking advantage of generous federal tax incentives. But with the banks in so much trouble, that number has dropped to four, according to Keith Martin, a tax and project finance specialist with the law firm Chadbourne & Parke.

Wind and solar developers have been left starved for capital. “It’s absolutely frozen,” said Craig Mataczynski, president of Renewable Energy Systems Americas, a wind developer. He projected his company would build just under half as much this year as it did last year.

The two industries are hopeful that President Obama’s economic stimulus package will help. But it will take time, and in the interim they are making plans for a dry spell.

Solar energy companies like OptiSolar, Ausra, Heliovolt and SunPower, once darlings of investors, have all had to lay off workers. So have a handful of companies that make wind turbine blades or towers in the Midwest, including Clipper Windpower, LM Glasfiber and DMI.

Some big wind developers, like NextEra Energy Resources and even the Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, a promoter of wind power, have cut back or delayed their wind farm plans.

Riaz Haq said...

Here is an excerpt from Pakistaniat website about the use of solar energy:

A practical example of the use of solar energy could be seen in some villages of Pakistan where each house has been provided with a solar panel that’s sufficient to run an electric fan and two energy saving bulbs. Prior to this arrangement, the whole village used to be plunged in pitch dark during night. One such example is the village with the name of Narian Khorian, some 50 kilometers away from Islamabad, where 100 solar panels have been installed by a local firm, free of cost, to promote the use of solar energy among the masses. Through these panels, the residents of 100 households are enjoying light and fan facilities. Had these panels not been installed, the people living in this area wouldn’t have even dreamt of getting this facility for decades as the provision of electricity from the national grid was a far cry due to the difficult terrain and high expenses involved.

To give you an example of the use of solar energy, you must have noticed solar panels installed on poles along with the telephone booths on your left hand side while commuting on the Motorway. Each of these telephones is being powered by this panel. A battery is installed beneath each solar panel to store energy for keeping the telephone in operation during night when there’s no sun light. It’s a stand-alone system, entirely powered by solar energy. During emergency, the commuters make use of these telephones and call for help.

To give you another example, if you happen to drive from Rawalpindi (Faizabad) towards Murree on the newly constructed Murree Road, you would see on your right hand side blinking red hazard lights installed at the top of each WAPDA pole. Each of these lights is being powered by a stand-alone solar system i.e. a solar panel and a battery. Just imagine, how much expensive and full of hassle it would have been if solar panels weren’t used for this purpose and these lights were provided normal electric connections!


To read more, please visit here.

Riaz Haq said...

PM inaugurates Pakistan’s first wind power project (Daily Times April 20, 2009)

* Gilani says 24 similar projects underway
* Hopes mid-term renewable energy policy document will get cabinet’s approval

JHIMPIR: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday inaugurated Pakistan’s first-ever wind energy scheme – the 50-megawatt ‘Zorlu Energy Wind Power Project’ – and said the government has created a fund to mainstream and implement alternative energy technologies in the country.

“The fund will be used partially to finance economically viable projects … and for the much-needed capacity building of the renewable energy sector,” said Gilani at the inauguration – which was attended by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the water and power secretary.

The prime minister said that the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) – in collaboration with public and private stakeholders – had prepared a mid-term renewable energy policy document. He said the policy focussed on creating a feasible environment for power generation through renewable energy means in the country. “I hope the policy will be submitted to the cabinet and approved soon,” he said.

“The launch of the Zorlu wind farm is, indeed, a major milestone towards exploiting the wind potential of renowned Gharo-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor. This 60 kilometre long and 170 kilometre deep corridor alone has the potential to generate over 50,000 megawatts of electricity,” he said.

The prime minister said the launch of the project had heralded the beginning of a new era in Pakistan.

“We are keen … to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuel, control environmental pollution and achieve sustainable energy security,” he added.

“I am proud to narrate that apart from the Zorlu wind farm, 24 other wind projects, with a cumulative capacity of 1,200 megawatts, are under way.”

He also praised the Zorlu Energy Group for its plan to expand the project to 250 megawatts. “This will also send a very strong signal … that Pakistan offers great opportunities to do business and investment.” app

Anonymous said...

Why hasn't anyone thought of alternative power before? Seriously, just solar power alone can power the whole of Pakistan as it's such a warm country! I suggest next time overseas Pakistani's go to Pakistan, instead of taking gifts for their relatives, they buy some solar convertors which are pretty cheap in England

Riaz Haq said...

Power sector has been holding Pakistan back in recent years. Here's BMI assessment of energy sector prospects:

The new Pakistan Power Report forecasts Pakistan will account for 1.37% of Asia Pacific regional powergeneration by 2013, with a stable theoretical generation surplus before the country’s substantialtransmission losses are taken into account. BMI’s Asia Pacific power generation assumption for 2008 is7,093 terawatt hours (TWh), representing an increase of 3.2% over the previous year. We are forecastingan increase in regional generation to 9,099TWh by 2013, representing a rise of 28.3%.

Asia Pacific thermal power generation in 2008 totalled an estimated 5,570TWh, accounting for 78.5% ofthe total electricity supplied in the region. Our forecast for 2013 is 6,999TWh, implying 25.7% growththat reduces the market share of thermal generation to 76.9% - thanks largely to environmental concernspromoting renewables, hydro-electricity and nuclear generation. Pakistan’s thermal generation in 2008was an estimated 62.8TWh, or 1.13% of the regional total. By 2013, the country is expected to stillaccount for 1.13% of thermal generation.

For Pakistan, gas is the dominant fuel, accounting for 47.5% of primary energy demand (PED) in 2007,followed by oil at 30.7%, hydro-electric energy at 12.9% and coal with a 7.9% share. Regional energydemand is forecast to reach 4,859mn tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) by 2013, representing 24.9% growthfrom the estimated 2008 level. Pakistan’s estimated 2008 market share of 1.52% is set to ease to 1.45%by 2013. The country’s estimated 2.5TWh of nuclear demand in 2008 is forecast to reach 5.0TWh by2013, with its share of the Asia Pacific nuclear market rising from 0.49% to 0.75% over the period.

Pakistan is ranked third behind India in BMI’s Power Business Environment Rating, thanks to itsrelatively high level of renewables (mostly hydro) generation and healthy power consumption/energydemand growth prospects. Several country risk factors offset some of the industry strength, but thecountry is in a good position to keep clear of Malaysia below.

BMI forecasts Pakistan real GDP growth averaging 3.98% a year between 2009 and 2013, with the 2009estimate at 2.50%. The population is expected to expand from 161mn to 177mn, with per capita GDP andelectricity consumption increasing by 20% and 11% respectively. Power consumption is expected toincrease from an estimated 81TWh in 2008 to 99TWh by the end of the forecast period, which provides arelatively stable theoretical generation surplus (before transmission losses, etc.), assuming 4.3% annualgrowth in electricity generation.

Between 2008 and 2018, we are forecasting an increase in Pakistani electricity generation of 59.2%,which is mid-range for the Asia Pacific region. This equates to 27.2% in the 2013-2018 period, up from25.1% in 2008-2013. PED growth is set to increase from 19.1% in 2008-2013 to 25.8%, representing49.9% for the entire forecast period. An increase of 49% in hydro-power use during 2008-2018 is a keyelement of generation growth. Thermal power generation is forecast to rise by 52% between 2008 and2018, with nuclear usage up 380% from a low base. More details of the long-term BMI power forecastscan be found at the end of this report.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a recent Daily Times report about Bhasha Dam in Pakistan:

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Sardar Asef Ahmad Ali on Thursday said some changes had been made in Bhasha Dam project, particularly in its power component. In an exclusive interview with Daily Times he said the power component of Bhasha Dam would be run on Public Private Partnership basis so that burden on the government kitty might be reduced. In this regard he said that a ‘Company’ would be established, which would be converted into an international consortium. The consortium would be able to get equity as well as funds from the International Financial Institutions (IFI), Kuwait Funds and others.

Once the Company is established, he said that there would be no problems for funding, as it would be able to borrow from the market and repay the loan. “The government has assigned me to structure the Company,” the Deputy Chairman said and added that he would invite all power distribution companies including KESC to purchase its shares. The government and WAPDA might also purchase its share and later, expatriates would also be offered shares in it. In this manner, it would enjoy the status of an International Company. Its marketing plan would be carried out at world-class top companies and arrangements would be made to conduct internationals show for it. In this way, all requirements for making it an ‘Equity’ would be fulfilled, he added. All these measures have been carried out for the first time in Pakistan.

About PSDP (Public Sector Development Programme) he said that as a routine, the government releases 19 to 20 percent developmental funds in first quarter of the current fiscal year (July-September 2009). Reason for low allocation was the slow process of revenue generation through new measures adopted in the annual budget. PSDP releases for second quarter (Oct to Dec 2009) was already in progress. If the funds are released in time, he expressed hope that the government would be able to achieve its targets. At present, he said there was no indication by the ministry of finance regarding cut in PSDP 2009-10.

Currently the country’s revenue generation remained stagnant at 8.5 percent of the GDP, which he termed as lowest in the world. The government wanted to increase it to the level of 11 percent of the GDP. “Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen informed me that the government identified 2 million new taxpayers in the existing system and if it remains successful, then the PSDP will be remain as it is”, he maintained.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Riaz
Thank you for having such a productive pro-Pakistan blog. Usually, overseas Pakistanis are busy complaining about Pakistan and how bad everything is. You on the other hand are concerned and trying to help. I appreciate your efforts and pray that others should also do the same. No country no matter how nice can be your home like Pakistan. My advice to others is no matter what passport they carry you will always be known as Pakistani. Be proud of it.

Riaz Haq said...

There have been widespread complaints in Islamabad, including by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, that the government had solutions to improve the power output but was refusing to implement them in order to benefit a handful of power plant operators, such as those supplying rental power at exorbitant rates, while the IPPs are not being paid for supplying power from currently underutilized installed capacity. Requests for information by Transparency International Pakistan regarding rental power contracts have been ignored by the Ministry of Water and Power. There are widespread corruption allegations against Mr. Zardari personally who has influenced the award of the 783 MW rental power contracts to a former governor of Oklahoma and his Pakistani partner.

Riaz Haq said...

Here is an excerpt from a recent report from Pakistan Economist about rental power in Pakistan:

Pakistan People's Party led coalition government has opted the option of using Rental Power Plants (RPPs) to overcome persistent electricity crisis that is not only causing great amount of hardships for the fellow citizens but also hitting hard to country's economy. There is much hue and cry from political and other circles over alleged kickbacks in deals of RPPs. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has already announced to issue a White Paper on RPPs while another opposition party-Pakistan Muslim League (Q)- is also at the forefront in highlighting alleged wrongdoings in the execution of RPPs. Sources in PEPCO told PAGE that RPPs would provide electricity at a quick speed compared to IPPs which will reduce power deficit on an emergency basis. These rental projects are for five years and its costing responsibility rests with private sector investors.

The contract life of these projects is between 3-5 years, after which the government has no obligation to purchase power from these units. According to them, it is incorrect to suggest that rental power costs are substantially higher than that of IPPs. Due to different tariff of rental plants, even after taking into account the high fuel costs, the cost difference is almost equal or marginally higher in case of RPPs. Compared with IPPs, RPPs power generation cost ranges between 12-13 cents per KWh, and IPPs' power generation costs approximately 12 cent per KWh. Government circles are of the view that mere blame game is going on just for the sake of leg pulling. There is nothing wrong in RPPs and the only viable option to get rid of load shedding is rental power plants, they believe. They said rental tariffs for the projects depended on number of factors including location of the plants, system maintenance, and consumption of fuels. Others factors are variation in project cost due to difference in technology, age of machinery, and variations in financing. As many as, 14 approved RPPs with total generation capacity of 2250MW will start functioning by December, which would expectedly end the energy crisis.

However, critics of RPPs are of the sanguine view that highly controversial RPPs are proving last resort to overcome the power crisis, which has hit hard the economic growth of the country besides adding salt to public miseries at large. The political government has surrendered to public pressures on construction of Kalabagh Dam, the only way to survive ahead and instead preferred to go after a stopgap arrangement at a higher cost. The independent experts are of the view that RPPs would not only fail to meet rising electricity demand but also burden the national exchequer in general and power consumers in particular. The public is justifiable in questioning that if RPPs are the option, why it is adopted too late. According to Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) Managing Director Tahir Basharat Cheema, an investment of around US $2 billion is expected in power sector through RPPs. Apart from investment in power sector, additional electricity of 1675 MW will be added in the system by December 2009 when nine rental power projects will start generation.

However, overall 2250 MW electricity will be generated through RPPs in current fiscal year (2009-10). Two rental power projects that have already started generation include Atlas Power (213 MW) and Attock Generation (156 MW) while remaining seven will start functioning by December 2009. These RPPs include Nishat (196 MW), Engro (203 MW), Saif Power (213 MW), Fauji Foundation (176 MW), Sapphire Electric Company (213 MW), and Orient Power Company (213 MW). He said all proposals of RPPs were accepted only with bid bonds and performance guarantee by sponsors.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a blog post about "Power Politics" on "Teeth Maestro". It was produced by Center for Research and Security Studies:

Two questions: why have some private power producers completely shut down? Why are private power producers operating way below their full generating potential? Two answers: political score-settling plus the circular debt.

We at the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) have been trying for months to ascertain the crux of our power politics. Almost all roads lead back to the government. The federal government is the largest power defaulter, then come the four provincial governments, FATA, the KESC and the KW&SB. This is how the circular debt explodes into even bigger circles: the federal government does not pay its electricity bills to Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).

WAPDA is then unable to pay for electricity it buys from IPPs. IPPs are then unable to pay for their oil supplies. Refineries, short on cash, are unable to pay their foreign suppliers. Grow, grow, grow and we have a Rs200 billion time bomb.

Welcome to the rental power bonanza; the government’s ingenious – canny, crafty and cunning – all-in-one solution for the crux of our power politics. What we need to do is to re-start the power producers that are shut down. That’s 800 MW at US 11 cents per MW. What we need to do is to resolve our circular debt puzzle. What we need to do is to get our sugar mills connected to the national grid which could generate an additional 2,200 MW at less than US 11 cents per MW.

Riaz Haq said...

Here' Reuter's analysis of rental power in Pakistan:

Aides of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said he almost resigned after failing to persuade the cabinet against renting, an option he considered expensive and inefficient.

Here are some questions and answers about the plight of the power sector in Pakistan and leasing plants.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Pakistan has about 20,000 MW of installed power production capacity, but that falls short of demand by roughly 4,000 MW. Lengthy power cuts, dubbed load shedding, have become commonplace.

Past governments failed to anticipate the growth in demand and delayed clearing power project proposals and big dam projects that would have boosted hydro power.

Lack of investment in existing plant, outdated grids and rampant electricity theft mean that some grid companies experience line losses of up to 30-40 percent, analysts say.

Many independent power producers (IPPs) operate well below capacity because they cannot pay their fuel bills regularly as grid companies owe them money.

The crisis has crippled industry, notably textiles, the main export sector and largest employer in the manufacturing sector.

There have also been violent protests that some analysts see as a bad omen both for the government and democracy in a country struggling to contain the growth of Islamist militancy.

WHAT IS BEING DONE TO BOOST SUPPLIES?

The 18-month-old civilian government has vowed to increase supplies but needs huge finances.

It recently reached an agreement with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to phase in power tariff increases.

The government is working on a multi-pronged strategy to address the problem through building new dams and setting up new permanent power plants. It sees Rental Power Plants (RPPs) as the "only solution", while completing medium and long-term projects.

WHAT IS RENTAL POWER PLANT?

Countries can hire power units from overseas manufacturers that can be shipped in kit form and installed.

It takes four to six months to set up a rental unit, while two to five years may be needed for an Independent Power Producer to build a plant.

Surging emerging economies like China and Turkey have gone the short-term rental route to bridge power supply gaps. And Pakistan, according to official documents, had two rental units commence operation in 2007.

Under the new plan, additional RPPs would be set up to generate 2,250 MW by the end of the year.

HOW WILL RENTAL POWER PLANTS IMPACT FUEL DEMAND?

The rental power plants would increase the Pakistani power sector's furnace oil needs by 29 percent, driving up its import bill and adding to pressure on the rupee and currency reserves.

Pakistan requires 35,000 tonnes a day to feed its thermal power plants and the installation of the RPPs will increase demand to 45,000 tonnes, officials say.

The country imports about 80 percent of its oil. It spent $9.5 billion on the import of 10.6 million tonnes of petroleum products and 7.8 million tonnes of crude oil in the 2008/09 (July-June) financial year.

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS?

Rental plants can provide breathing space for Pakistan to focus on medium- and long-term projects.

Advocates say rental plants are efficient, will help quickly meet growing needs, and end-consumers will pay the same or a bit less for their electricity.

Opponents say the mostly second-hand equipment will be less efficient and that the tariff will rise. They argue that the government would be better off spending money on upgrading and using idle existing capacity.

Some opponents also say the option is being supported by corrupt politicians hoping for kickbacks.

Riaz Haq said...

Here is an explanation offered by the News for gas and CNG shortage in Pakistan:

ISLAMABAD: The multi-million dollar mystery shrouding the serious shortage of gas in the country, which has already led to twice a week closure of CNG stations, seems to have finally been resolved, as millions of cubic feet of gas per day is now being supplied to powerful owners of the controversial rental power plants in the country as the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (tomorrow) has been asked to approve additional supplied for these plants.

The official sources said these expensive rental power plants, which were being installed with tall claims to address the energy crises in the country, were said to have now become one of the major reasons behind a new sorts of energy crises in Pakistan, as their gas requirements are bound to hit other sectors of economy running on gas supplies. The cement sector has already been hit as its gas supply is now being diverted to one such power plant at Naudero.

Under the agreed deal which was subjected to criticism both within and outside the Parliament, these rental power plants will continue to get gas supplies for five years till the completion of their agreements with the Ministry of Water and Power.

The formal approval of this gas supply is being given in the Economic Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) meeting tomorrow (Tuesday). Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin will preside over the meeting as Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar is out to get the approval for these plants as proposed in the official summary of his ministry.

The sources said the supply of gas would become a huge issue in the coming days for even the domestic consumers after the government would divert more gas to these rental power plants after diverting it from the sectors which were now regularly getting the supplies. Now ECC was asked to give supply of gas only for one plant. Sources said, more demands from other power plants will soon follow and then the country would really experience the burden of these power plants, which were ironically being installed to address the very energy crises of the country.

The official papers to be laid in the ECC meeting revealed that the gas meant for the cement sector in particular was being drastically reduced and diverted to the rental power plants in the country. One source said, certain other sectors which are already getting the gas in the country soon may also face similar kind of cuts in their approved supply to accommodate the privileged and powerful owners of the plants having direct links at the top levels.

The huge gas supply is being supplied as a part of deal struck with these rental power plants by the Ministry of Water and Power in controversial circumstances.

According to the official papers to be tabled in the ECC meeting, the Ministry of Petroleum was now seeking the approval of diversion of gas from cement to power plants and initially a power plant of 51 MW was being provided with 30MMCFD. The papers said earlier the ECC has decided on October 2 to place 12 MMCFD gas from SSGC system at the disposal of PPIB/Ministry of Water and Power for five years for power generation in accordance with the natural gas allocation and management policy of 2005. The official summary said the Ministry of Water and Power have now informed that 12 MMFCD gas been allocated to the power plants project.

The summary said, based on SSGCL commitment, it is proposed that 15 MMCFD additional gas from SSGCL system which includes diversion of 14MMCFD gas being supplied to cement sector may be placed at the disposal of PPPB/ Ministry of Water and Power on the “ as and when available basis for five years” for power generation subject to following conditions.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Wall Street Journal report about India trying to reduce dependence on China in power sector:

MUNDRA, India—India is trying to rein in its heavy reliance on Chinese equipment and know-how for the ambitious expansion of its power sector. The shift casts a shadow over what has been a healthy partnership in an often tense relationship between the giant neighbors.

India wants to boost electricity output by 60% in the five-year span ending March 2012 to alleviate severe shortages and help fuel a rapidly growing economy. But it doesn't have enough of its own equipment and engineers to meet that goal, so power companies have looked overseas for help. U.S. and European suppliers are too expensive, but low-cost Chinese contractors are a good fit.

Chinese companies are now supplying equipment for about 25% of the new power capacity India is adding to its grid, up from almost nothing a few years ago. They have sent thousands of skilled workers to Indian plant sites, some of which boast Chinese chefs, Chinese television and ping pong.

But now India is reining in cooperation with China as it seeks to build up its own manufacturing base to service power plants. The Central Electricity Authority, India's top planning body for power projects, recently asked government-controlled power companies to use Indian equipment on all upcoming big projects.

The Indian government is also considering a plan to tax Chinese power imports. And Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's aides have told power regulators to make sure India has enough spare parts on hand to fix Chinese equipment when it needs repairs, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

"It's better that we depend on our own capabilities rather than depend on those from the outside," Rakesh Nath, chairman of the Central Electricity Authority, said in an interview.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan has one of the highest "transmission losses", a euphemism for rampant power theft by consumers. Now Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and PML(N) chief, is being accused of addressing a supporter's rally lit by "kunda", a hook-like device commonly used to steal electricity.

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz found itself entangled in a controversy on Monday that threatened to undermine its claim of occupying the high moral ground, according to a report by DawnNews.

As Nawaz Sharif addressed supporters in the run-up to a Lahore by-election, his large rally was lit up by extensive use of illegal connections using ‘kunda’ (hooks that are attached to live power cables to secure supply without having to pay for it).

Power utility officials told DawnNews that they would estimate the number of units consumed and bill the user based on that, while Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah tried to distance his party and government from this outrage by blaming an unnamed contractor.

PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooq told DawnNews that an inquiry would be held to fix responsibility for what was “clearly” a crime.

In a damage-limitation exercise well past midnight, PML-N leader Saad Rafique told a news conference his party was not at fault and that ‘kunda’ connections had been made by the administration to provide security lighting.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's more from the BBC about power theft at Nawaz Sarif's Lahore rally and the low-level official being made the fall guy:

A low-ranking Pakistani official has been punished for stealing electricity to provide power for lights used at an opposition night rally.

An inquiry by the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) blamed the theft on a junior municipal officer.

The unnamed official has been fined 3,000 rupees ($35) for ordering illegal connections for powerful searchlights.

The discovery that power was being stolen came as opposition leader Nawaz Sharif was denouncing corruption.

Lesco says it has also suspended a low-ranking official for failing in his duty to ensure that power supplies to the rally were not illegal.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says critics are bound to see the inquiry as a whitewash because the officials involved have been made into scapegoats.

Our correspondent says that electricity theft and other forms of corruption plague Pakistan but it is generally only poorer or less influential people who are arrested for it.

Live wires

Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party governs Punjab province, whose capital is Lahore, and was widely accused of siphoning off power to provide lighting for the rally.

Television footage showed that metal hooks had been illegally connected to live wires to secure the electricity supply.

The PML-N denied wrongdoing, saying the power supply had been arranged by Lahore administration officials to ensure security at the rally. Mr Sharif denied being personally responsible for the theft.

The allegations were embarrassing for the former prime minister, who indirectly denounced President Asif Zardari in his speech for making illegal money and stashing it away in foreign bank accounts.

Both men have denied persistent accusations of corruption over the years.

Riaz Haq said...

General Electric (GE) has signed an MOU with Pak govt to participate in supporting the forecast 54,0000 MW of electricity demand by 2020. Here's the report from Daily Times:

ISLAMABAD: The government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with General Electric (GE) in the Prime Minister House to help promote the modernisation of Pakistan’s infrastructure and economy.
Saleem H. Mandviwala, Chairman Board of Investment and Nani Beccalli-Falco, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE International singed the MOU on behalf of the government of Pakistan and General Electric Company respectively.
The prime minister welcomed the initiatives of General Electric to support Pakistan’s national objective for development. He expressed the democratic government’s commitment of making Pakistan a trade, investment and financial hub.
“This is a landmark day that we have signed the MoU with one of the most renowned conglomerates of the USA, and this will certainly open another productive era of economic ties and people to people contacts,” the Prime Minister said.
The agreement focuses on the development of Pakistan’s energy resources to meet projected demand of 54,000 megawatts by the year 2020. “General Electric is helping build the energy, water, transportation and technology infrastructure of the new century,” says Nani Beccalli-Falco, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE International. “There are huge synergies between the products and services GE businesses provide in energy and infrastructure and the needs and goals of Pakistan to modernize its economy with cleaner, more efficient and better infrastructure technologies.” GE has similar agreements with a number of other governments, including Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Qatar and the province of Ontario, Canada.
The government of Pakistan aimed to meet projected energy demands using diverse sources and tactics. Possible solutions include renewable sources, such as, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, coal, hydro and conventional thermal through gas and steam turbines, rehabilitation of existing power generation facilities, along with transfer of technology for manufacture and repair of turbines, developing more efficient and environmentally sound rail transport systems, developing water purification and reuse, wastewater treatment, and process system programs.
According to the MOU’s terms, GE would assist Pakistan in achieving its goals by engaging in Pakistan’s energy, transportation and water sectors and would work to identify potential sources of funding and explore potential investment opportunities in those sectors. Pakistan has committed to meeting with GE regularly to facilitate the goals of the MoU and provide support to the establishment and operation of the GE facilities in Pakistan, transparently and consistent with the laws and regulations of Pakistan. Pakistan would also facilitate the issuance of work permits and visas for the GE employees and contractors as needed in order to support the objectives of the signed MOU.

Riaz Haq said...

Here are some excerpts from Fareed Zakaraia's interview with US Energy chief, Nobel Laureate Dr. Stephen Chu:

"I see the cost of [solar] photovoltaics going down and down. Right now it's about $4 per watt for full installation. In a decade it will certainly be less than $2. If it's $1 or $1.25, then everyone will put it up without subsidy. What else do I see? A new generation of biofuels that are direct substitutes for gasoline—so, better than ethanol—using agricultural waste: weed straw, rice straw, corncobs, wood surplus."

"We're at about 4 percent now (renewables sources). President Obama made a target to double that by 2012, and we are on target. I expect that to continue. In 10 years' time we hope to have carbon-capture-and-sequestration technologies starting to be deployed. Hopefully, we'll have restarted the nuclear industry and we'll be building several nuclear reactors."

Riaz Haq said...

Here's are excerpts from a report about "Solar India" initiative in Pakistan's neighborhood:

The country is blessed with radiant sunshine: it ranks at the top among the world's countries in in terms of annual solar energy
yield, according to recent studies.

But it is also a country where 412 million of its 1.1 billion people live without electricity, faces an energy deficit of 16 per cent and needs power desperately to drive its high economic growth.

Aiming for long-term energy security, the government has unveiled plans to boost solar output almost 1,000-fold to 20,000 megawatt by 2022.

The 'Solar India' initiative, to be implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, would power cities and rural areas and could revolutionize the domestic solar-energy industry.

Fossil fuels currently account for 70 per cent of India's energy mix, while renewable sources provide about 9 per cent.

'Given the ground realities, major challenges include effective financing, advancing R&D in technologies for solar modules and components and human resources like training engineers and technicians,' said Rajinder Kumar, secretary general of the Solar Energy Society of India.

'We have to bring in a balance of system, distribution and maintenance to realize our solar dream,' Kumar said.

The investment
required for the three-phase programme is around 50 billion dollars, of which the government would contribute about 40 per cent.

There is little clarity on where the remainder should come from, with Indian expecting that rich countries with a responsibility to assist renewable projects in the developing world would provide the funding.

The strategy currently framed would include a long-term policy to purchase power and shift subsidies from fossil fuels to renewable-power generation.

'We need to reduce high-initial costs for solar-power generation and build grids of scale to allow rapid diffusion of solar technologies and large-scale domestic manufacture of equipment,' renewalbe energy ministry spokeswoman Prabahvati Akashi said.

The ministry says there is 'tremendous interest' from companies and entrepreneurs for the pilot programme based on feed-in tariffs.

Following a recent launch of small commercial solar farms, the Clinton Foundation is setting up 3,000- to 5,000-megawatt (MW) solar energy parks in northern Rajasthan.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Dawn report on US plans to help Pakistan's power sector:

LAHORE: Help for Pakistan’s energy sector will be a top priority in plans for direct US investment in the country under the Kerry-Lugar Bill, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Dr Rajiv Shah, said here on Wednesday.

“The US will help refurbish three thermal and one hydel power plant that will add some 4,500MW to the national grid,” Mr Shah said while talking to this correspondent at Lahore airport before leaving for Islamabad. USAID’s Pakistan Mission Director Robert Wilson was also present.

Dr Shah said the US would invest directly in Pakistani institutions in a wide range of areas. “It is time to take immediate action to aggressively meet education and health needs also.”

He dispelled a perception that a large part of the funding would go to consultants and contractors in the United States. “It will be utilised in water, education, health and agriculture sectors that are in tremendous need of development through short-, medium- and long-term infrastructural reforms.”

He said the initiatives would help create employment, especially in tribal areas where small and medium projects relating to infrastructure development, livelihood support and technology transfer would be launched.

The quality of education would be improved through teachers’ training, curriculum development programmes and provision of textbooks in other less developed areas, especially southern Punjab, he said.

In health sector, he said, the focus would be on strengthening professional institutions and USAID would arrange for capacity building of lady health workers and paramedical staff and higher education of physicians.

Dr Shah said reinvestment in agricultural research would be another major area of attention. “We are proud to be partners in research activities at the agriculture universities of Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. Now plans are afoot to improve training facilities and marketing skills of farmers as agriculture contributes more than 25 per cent to Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product.

“We will work on the critical issue of water with programmes aimed at helping Pakistan better manage its water resources to ensure maximum water access to the people.”

Dr Shah said: “President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton launched strategic dialogue with Pakistan to make sure that our relationship is a broad and deep partnership defined by mutual respect and cooperation in a broad range of areas, especially energy, water, education and health sectors that are very important for development of cooperation.

“This trip was really an effort to follow up that strategic dialogue. We are here to meet Pakistani leaders in government, private sector and civil society. We also have a chance to meet professors at universities and hold discussions to explore effective means and ways to work together.”

Iftikhar A. Khan adds from Islamabad: Addressing a press conference in the federal capital, Dr Shah said aid to Pakistan was not tied to the country’s performance in stemming militancy. He underlined the need for financial management control to ensure that the aid was spent to achieve the defined objectives.

He said the US had significantly enhanced investment portfolio for Pakistan without setting any specific conditions.

He said the purpose of his visit was to learn about priorities in development and put in place many principles discussed during the recent round of strategic dialogue in Washington.

Dr Shah hinted at the possibility of helping Pakistan augment its water reservoirs. “We are looking at a broad range of options and will do everything which makes economic sense.” He said the US was working with other donors and international partners to help Pakistan improve its hydro infrastructure.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a BBC report about Pakistan government's latest plan to tackle power shortages:

According to government sources, Pakistan's energy shortfall comes to around 3,668 megawatts (MW) per day.

BBC correspondents say officials hope the new measures will save 1,500 MW a day.

Mr Gilani said that Pakistan's government would pay 116 bn rupees ($1.38bn) to the power sector to help resolve the issue of debt owed to various power producers within the industry.

Measures include extending the official weekend from one to two days, early closure of street markets, and a 50% cut in power to government offices.

Pakistan's energy crisis is due to a surge in demand and a failing power distribution infrastructure.

The shortages have crippled industry and led to rioting across Pakistan.

Electricity supplies to homes and businesses across Pakistan are often cut for several hours a day because of the power shortfall.

Extending the weekend will shorten the working week and so cut electricity use by businesses.

Mr Gilani says the government will take the lead in cutting demand for energy.

"We are taking these decisions in the best national interest," he told reporters.

Other energy-saving measures include:

* The power supply to Karachi, Pakistan's main port and industrial capital, will be reduced by 300 MW a day
* Marriage halls will no longer be able to host all-night wedding parties
* Neon signs and brightly-lit billboards are to be banned

All the measures will be reviewed at the end of July.

Mr Gilani said he would introduce government units and 13 independent power producers as part of the plan.

He said the steps were necessary and that the government now had a long-term strategy to deal with the power crisis.

The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says that the energy crisis is also seen as a threat to Pakistan's security situation.

Pakistan's leadership has been examining alternatives to its hydroelectric power-based energy producing sector.

One option they are looking at is more civilian nuclear power plants, our correspondent says.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a NY Times report about Pakistan's growing power crisis:

Pakistan is in the throes of an energy crisis, with Pakistanis now enduring about 12 hours of power cuts a day, a grueling schedule that is melting ice, stopping fans and enraging an already exhausted populace just as the blast furnace of summer gets started.

In an effort to stem that frustration, Pakistan’s government held an emergency meeting last week, bringing together top bureaucrats from across the country. But instead of easing the problem, it aggravated it, ordering power-saving measures that seemed calculated to smother some Pakistanis’ last remaining pleasures.

“They are playing a joke on us,” said Amina Ali, the mother of a bride at a wedding hall that was under orders to close early as part of the new energy-saving restrictions. Her brother chimed in: “The Pakistani people are a toy in the hands of the government.”

The power failures could prove destabilizing if they go unchecked, analysts said. Pakistan badly needs its economy to expand to make space for its bulging young population, and chronic power cuts work against that.

It is a concern for the United States, which is trying to help steady Pakistan’s wobbly finances and keep its democratically elected government afloat. The Obama administration has pledged about $1 billion for energy over the next five years.

The crisis is a snarl of unmet responsibilities, and untangling it will not be easy. It has a cast of guilty characters that goes back years: governments that are incapable of planning ahead; bureaucrats who take bribes; even ordinary people who steal about 30 percent of all the power produced. The tribal areas in the west, for example, have no meters and have never paid for power.

The result is about $2 billion a year in energy that is generated but not paid for. Industry experts said they were skeptical the government had a way to close the growing gap between Pakistan’s demand for power and the energy sector’s ability to produce it.

“There is nobody in Islamabad who is working on a coherent, integrated plan,” said one industry executive who asked not to be identified because he did not want to be seen as being critical of the government. “The discussion just keeps going in circles.”

Mohan said...

Some two years back there was a huge debate in India about the nuclear deal with US. The major opposition came from the communist party, which did not like India having a stratagic partnership with US, the champions of world capitalism. They organised several workshops which was intented to educate the public about renewable energy, a few of which I also attented.

Several professors and activists explained, like if we convert all the wind, all the hydral power etc, we can produce more energy than from the proposed nuclear reactors and we should protest aganist the nuclear deal. Sounds good, but not practical. India is a corrupt country. Thus buliding several units that produce small amounds of energy will provide more room for corruption and inefficancy than building a single unit which produce huge power (nuclear reactor). Single units that produce huge power is also the best solution in an energy short, but rapidly growing economy. Situation being similar or even worse in Pakistan, in my opnion, its better not to go in the renewable energy direction. Like India, nuclear power is the best option for Pakistan. Many viewed my arguments politically biased as I am a firm supporter of the ruling Congress party which initiated the nuclear deal, but I belive there is some truth in what I said.

Riaz Haq said...

Sindh govt allocates Rs. 3.7 billion for Thar coal development in 2011-12 budget, according to Dawn:

KARACHI, June 11: Tormented by the power shortages the Sindh government focuses on developing indigenous coal reserves. In the next Annual Development Plan it has earmarked Rs3710.937 million for Thar coal project.

For energy sector a total of Rs1214.499 million has been kept in the ADP 2011-12. This include Rs1100 million for the coal gasification project.

Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while explaining salient features of the budget for 2011-12 said: “Thar coal reserves of 175 billion tons are ample for provision of cost-effective energy for centuries”.

He said that once the reserves were properly exploited they could help in generating 20,000MW by 2020.

Recently, in international competitive bidding, two Chinese companies, an Australian company, and Pakistan Petroleum Limited participated.

As a result, two Chinese companies have been selected to undertake coal exploration, power generation and establishing petro-chemical complex at two blocks of Thar.

He said the bankable feasibility study for joint venture project of the Sindh government and Engro was created to boost the potential in a record period of eight months.

The Sindh government and the federal government have included this project in the list of projects to be taken up with the Pak-China Joint Energy Working Group (JEWG) formed during the last visit of the Chinese prime minister to Pakistan, he said.

Leading Chinese companies have shown strong interest in executing this project. The mining and power generation from this project is expected in 2015-16 depending upon the financing arrangements for the project.

The test burn at Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is expected during coming financial year. After successful testing, the project will be scaled up to produce 2x50MW electricity.

He said the government has made serious efforts to provide critical infrastructure for development of Thar coal.

A scheme for bringing water to Thar from Makhi Farash has been approved by ECNEC, feasibility studies for effluent disposal and laying of broad-gauge railway line are to be completed in June, 2011.

Work on improvement and widening of road for movement of heavy machinery from Karachi to Mithi-Islamkot is expected to start in next year.

According to rough calculations an amount of $1.20 billion is needed over a period of next five years to develop the required infrastructure for Thar.

Serious efforts are also in place to exploit the Gharo-Keti Bandar wind corridor.

During the Sindh chief minister`s recent visit to South Korea an MoU to generate 2000MW of wind energy was signed with Korea Southern Power Company.

The issue of electric power is of great priority for Sindh. The CCI has given approval to the removal of a limit on the ceiling of 50MW, which was earlier set at which provinces could construct power plants.

The Sindh government has signed a letter of intent with the Three Gorges Project Corporation, China`s premier electricity producer, to help explore the hydro power potential in Sindh.

A team from CWE, a subsidiary of the Three Gorges, recently visited Sukkur Barrage to gauge the potential for constructing a power plant.

Under the village electrification programme 446 villages were provided electricity during 2010-11, while the process for providing power to 350 more villages is underway.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan is ready to approve a Norwegian company’s request to build a 150-megawatt wind farm, the first part of a $1 billion plan that could boost by a third the announced capacity for clean-energy power plants, according to Bloomberg News:

Pakistan is seeking to diversify its energy supplies away from oil and gas and boost electricity production. The nation has a power deficit of 3.6 gigawatts a day, or more than the output of two nuclear reactors, triggering 12-hour blackouts that cause riots and close factories in cities nationwide.

The Alternative Energy Development Board is willing to allow a project proposed by NBT AS, a Lysaker-based clean energy company that plans to build the facility in the Sindh province “wind corridor” north of Karachi, according to Said Arif Alauddin, chief executive of the government agency.

“They came to us saying they have got the money and relationship with the Chinese and they want to invest,” Alauddin said from the port city of Karachi. “As soon as they pay the fee, we will issue that letter to them. We will be able to give them the land if we can see they can deliver.”

Pakistan has almost 1 gigawatt of projects under construction or with financing agreed and 498.5 megawatts more of wind programs announced, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. Only 6 megawatts of wind energy facilities are operating in the nation. It’s the ninth-poorest in the Asia- Pacific region with a 2009 gross domestic product per capita of $2,609, according to Bloomberg data.
Chinese Financing

NBT Chief Executive Officer Joar Viken said he plans to tap financing for his project from one of three Chinese turbine makers that his company is talking with about supplying machinery for the facilities.

“We think Pakistan is a very good environment and has a very good framework,” Viken said in a phone interview from New York. “Because we get everything in U.S. dollars, we don’t have a huge currency risk.”

Viken said NBT would issue a tender to Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Sinovel Wind Group Co. and China Energine International Holdings Ltd. (1185) to supply the turbines. Each of the companies have credit lines with the China Development Bank Corp., a state-owned lender.

“Goldwind now is actively seeking more cooperation opportunities with domestic as well as foreign wind farm developers to expand Goldwind’s presence in overseas markets,” Thomas Yao, a spokesman for the company, said in an e-mail. “Norway’s NBT AS is among the international opportunities we are currently considering.”

A spokesman for China Energine, who asked not to be named in line with company policy, said he doesn’t know about the talks and can’t comment. Officials at Sinovel couldn’t be reached.
Financing ‘Feasible’

The financing arrangements are “feasible” because the Chinese turbine makers would not develop the projects themselves, said Eduardo Tabbush, an industry analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London.

“This is something we’ve seen happening more and more,” Tabbush said.

NBT envisions developing as much as 650 megawatts of wind power in Pakistan over the next few years. It already has purchased land suitable for 50 megawatts in Sindh province and is seeking a partnership with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, a university in Karachi, for land for the other 100 megawatts, Alauddin said.
Support Mechanism
-------
The country’s electricity shortfall reaches as much as 3,628 megawatts per day, according to demand-supply data available on the ministry of power and water website.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-13/pakistan-set-to-approve-1-billion-plan-to-boost-wind-energy-production.html

Riaz Haq said...

Here are a few excerpts of an interesting paper on solar energy published in Scientific American:

The sun strikes every square meter of our planet with more than 1,360 watts of power. Half of that energy is absorbed by the atmosphere or reflected back into space. 700 watts of power, on average, reaches Earth’s surface. Summed across the half of the Earth that the sun is shining on, that is 89 petawatts of power. By comparison, all of human civilization uses around 15 terrawatts of power, or one six-thousandth as much. In 14 and a half seconds, the sun provides as much energy to Earth as humanity uses in a day.

The numbers are staggering and surprising. In 88 minutes, the sun provides 470 exajoules of energy, as much energy as humanity consumes in a year. In 112 hours – less than five days – it provides 36 zettajoules of energy – as much energy as is contained in all proven reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas on this planet.

If humanity could capture one tenth of one percent of the solar energy striking the earth – one part in one thousand - we would have access to six times as much energy as we consume in all forms today, with almost no greenhouse gas emissions. At the current rate of energy consumption increase – about 1 percent per year – we will not be using that much energy for another 180 years.
-----------
The cost of solar, in the average location in the U.S., will cross the current average retail electricity price of 12 cents per kilowatt hour in around 2020, or 9 years from now. In fact, given that retail electricity prices are currently rising by a few percent per year, prices will probably cross earlier, around 2018 for the country as a whole, and as early as 2015 for the sunniest parts of America.

10 years later, in 2030, solar electricity is likely to cost half what coal electricity does today. Solar capacity is being built out at an exponential pace already. When the prices become so much more favorable than those of alternate energy sources, that pace will only accelerate.


http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=smaller-cheaper-faster-does-moores-2011-03-15

Riaz Haq said...

Here's an assessment of Pakistan's electricity crisis as published in Dawn:

Renowned Scientist and Member Science and Technology, Planning Commission of Pakistan Dr Samar Mubarakmand on Tuesday said the development of Thar coal was the only viable long-term solution to energy crisis prevailing in the country.

“Only Thar Coal can provide guaranteed long-term energy security to Pakistan,” he said while speaking at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI).

He said that the solution to power shortage had to be found indigenously and in this regard the Thar coal was the best option.

He said the electricity generated through integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants would cost Rs7 per KWH. He said that coal could also be converted into coal gas above the ground in machines called surface gasifiers, and the efficiency of the conversion of coal gas to electricity is about 40 per cent.

Dr Samar said that Thar Coal reserves could play a pivotal role in meeting energy crises both in long term and short term which would enhance industrial competitiveness due to cost effectiveness.

He said that the industrial sector could not wait for long and the government should present quick solution to fill in the gap between demand and supply of energy

He said that the 41 per cent electricity of the world was being produced from the coal, adding that India was producing 64.6 per cent electricity from the coal, whereas Pakistan was only producing 2.27 per cent electricity from coal. He said that 95 per cent natural wealth was not being utilised, whereas not a single kg of coal was mined.

He said that the current energy crisis was causing loss of Rs230 billion and rendering 400,000 people jobless. Current dependable power supply hovers around 14,000MW in summer though it drops in the winter.

On the other hand power demand in 2030 would be more than 100,000MW, he added.

Meanwhile, Mahfooz Elahi, President ICCI said that energy was the key determinant of economic development of the country as Pakistan has been facing an unprecedented energy crisis for past few years.

The government must look towards building power plants and tap alternative energy resources for overcoming power shortage, he maintained.

ICCI President said that delay in fulfilment of export consignments has become a matter of routine due to power outages.

To meet the growing demands of energy, Government should exploit its domestic energy resources which would make the country self-reliant, he emphasised.


http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/06/solution-to-energy-crisis-lies-in-tapping-thar-coal.html

Riaz Haq said...

ADB assures to consider financing for Bhasha Dam,reports Daily Times:

Asian Development Bank (ADB) is considering various options in a positive direction to finance multi-billion dollars Diamer Basha dam project.

This was stated by ADB Director General Jaun Miranda, while talking to the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Syed Naveed Qamar here today. A three-member ADB delegation called on him here on Friday.

The ADB also agreed to provide counter guarantees to the investors for investing in the wind power generation projects in Pakistan, he assured the meeting. The wind power generation projects will generate cheaper electricity in the country. Miranda said that the bank is already providing financial assistance for power distribution enhancement project and will continue its support for the project in order to improve the energy efficiency. Transmission and distribution system and energy loss reduction programme are also being funded by ADB for all distribution companies (Discos). He said that the bank is ready to expand its funding for replacement of all obsolete distribution network. The bank will provide financial assistance for free distribution of 30 million energy saver bulbs in the country. These energy savers will help reducing peak hours demand over 1000 Megawatts. He also said that the bank would fully support the energy conservation initiatives of the government.

The Minister for Water and Power appreciated the role of the ADB for improvement in energy sector and said that the support of the bank for energy efficiency programme will help save energy and reduction in the transmission and distribution losses. The Minister also thanked for providing counter guarantee facility for wind power projects. The Minister also briefed the delegation regarding new energy sector improvement initiatives like operation and maintenance contract of generation companies through private sector and conversion of existing independent power producers to cheaper fuels. He also asked the ADB to finance mega-water and power sector projects to end the crises in these sectors.

The ADB director also discussed current status of power sector reforms, energy efficiency programmes, central power purchasing agency, independence of Discos. The Minister also assured that all efforts would be made to timely complete the existing projects being funded by ADB.


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\27\story_27-8-2011_pg5_2

Riaz Haq said...

Here's an interesting excerpt from a report about Pakistan's power sector published in Miami Herald:

There is no place where the country's energy shortage isn't profound. Rural areas are without electricity for up to 16 hours a day while towns often go without for as many as 12 hours daily, forcing factories to close and plunging homes into darkness.

Natural gas supplies are rationed, with factories in the country's most populous province, Punjab, going without two days a week.

Pakistan's economic output is cut by at least 4 percent because of the shortages, the government estimates, something that hampers the country's hopes to battle extremism by creating more economic opportunities. The outages also feed political discontent, triggering frequent, if local, street protests.

Solving the energy problems is a top priority for the United States' aid program, with a State Department delegation here this week, led by Ambassador Carlos Pascual, the Obama administration's special envoy on international energy affairs.

But Pakistan's plans for a 1,700-mile natural gas pipeline from Iran, which would provide Pakistan with a cheaper source of fuel for electricity generation, is a stumbling block.
-------------------
Despite Pakistan's huge hydroelectric potential, it hasn't built a big dam project since the 1970s. Since the U.S.-backed government of President Asif Zardari was elected in 2008, a mushrooming chain of "circular" debt has enveloped the power sector.

The government has assumed $3.6 billion of the power industry's debt. The government-owned power grid owes another $2.5 billion to private-sector generators, even as the government, according to Finance Ministry figures, spent at least $7.4 billion on electricity subsidies during the 2008-2010 period.

Washington and international lenders such as the International Monetary Fund have repeatedly urged Pakistan to cut subsidies, which anemic government finances cannot afford.

Critics say that the government hasn't added to the electricity infrastructure in its three-and-a-half year term, while sinking billions of dollars into unproductive subsidies and taking on debt.

Of the $3.6 billion debt the government assumed, half were bills the government itself hadn't paid, said Ejaz Rafiq Qureshi, the spokesman of the Pakistan Electric Power Co., the state-owed national electricity grid. The rest is owed by private consumers.

At the end of August, a group of nine private power plants demanded that the government pay them within 30 days $540 million it owed for power generation.

Roughly half of Pakistan's current electricity output of 13,000 megawatts comes from the private generators. But there is more capacity that the government doesn't use. Government-owned equipment that could generate another 2,000 megawatts has been sidelined because of poor maintenance. Private equipment that could generate another 2,500 megawatts has been taken out of service because the government hasn't paid its bills, said Abdullah Yusuf, who represents the private producers. Combined, that amounts roughly to the entire immediate shortfall.

"If you had this capacity available, straight away your problem would be solved," said Yusuf.

A longer-term energy project is Pakistan's proposed $12 billion Diamer Basha dam, which would add 4,500 megawatts to Pakistan's electricity generating capacity. Washington is considering providing significant funding to the project. Separately, the U.S. Agency for International Development is currently working on projects that will add 900 megawatts to the Pakistani grid next year.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/16/2410787_p2/pakistan-search-for-energy-could.html#ixzz1YBKY4KxS

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a US State Dept blog post on US AID efforts for energy projects in Pakistan:

The United States and Pakistan reviewed progress on ongoing energy programs and recommitted themselves to pursuing practical solutions to Pakistan's energy needs during the latest Pakistan-United States Energy Dialogue this week. Ambassador Carlos Pascual, U.S. Department of State Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs, joined Pakistani Minister of Water and Power Naveed Qamar to reaffirm the partnership. They met September 14-15 in Islamabad.

"As all Pakistanis know, reliable and affordable energy is critical to Pakistan's prosperity. Without it, businesses can't operate and families can't light and cool their homes. Pakistan's future depends on power," Ambassador Pascual said at the opening of the Dialogue. "There are no quick fixes to this crisis, but the United States and international partners are willing to help. We will continue to support Pakistan in its efforts to resolve this energy crisis."

Ambassador Pascual reaffirmed the United States' long-term commitment to working with Pakistan to establish a commercially-viable and sustainable power sector. During the Dialogue, the U.S. and Pakistan reviewed ongoing cooperation in the energy sector. USAID highlighted its ongoing energy programs, which will bring more than 900 MW of power to the Pakistani grid by 2012. The programs include construction and rehabilitation of three hydropower plants (Satpara, Gomal Zam and Tarbela) and three thermal power plants (Guddu, Muzafargarh, and Jamshoro).

This extra energy will bring power to approximately 7 million people, eradicate 20 percent of Pakistan's existing power shortage, reduce annual oil imports by more than one million barrels and help store water for irrigation and flood control. The increases to the energy sector will also bring job opportunities for as many as 2.5 million heads of households.

The U.S. delegation welcomed Pakistan's plans, elaborated in the Integrated Energy Sector Recovery Report and Plan, to put the power sector on a commercially-viable and sustainable path. In the Dialogue, Pakistan underscored its commitment to strengthen energy sector governance and efficiency, pursue regulatory reforms, improve financial management, and create a business climate that helps drive investment.

Key topics of discussion at the energy dialogue included: an overview of the power sector and challenges it faces; the current policy and regulatory framework, and possible reforms; availability of primary fuels; the role of the private sector; and regional energy initiatives.

The U.S. underscored that these measures will help develop a stronger foundation for investment. Both sides agreed to continue technical exchanges in areas that can help improve power availability. The U.S. also welcomed Pakistan's continued engagement with international financial institutions and the private sector to assess feasibility of viable hydropower projects and appreciates its commitment to international environmental and societal standards, while also focusing on the importance of water management.


http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/us_pakistan_energy_solutions

Riaz Haq said...

Increased load shedding in Pakistan alone has cost 400,000 jobs in recent years, according to the World Bank. Although the World Bank report does not address it directly, the anecdotal evidence suggests that almost all of Pakistan's job growth for the decade occurred from 2000-2007 when the economy showed robust gdp growth. During 2000-2007, Pakistan's economy became one of the four fastest growing economies in Asia with its growth rate averaging 7.0 per cent per year for most of this period. As a result of strong economic growth, Pakistan succeeded in reducing poverty by one-half, creating almost 13 million jobs, halving the country's debt burden, raising foreign exchange reserves to a comfortable position and propping the country's exchange rate, restoring investors' confidence and most importantly, taking Pakistan out of the IMF Program. Contrary to its public criticism of the Musharraf-era economy, the preceding facts were acknowledged by the current government in a Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) for 2008/09-2009/10, while signing agreement with the IMF on November 20, 2008.

http://www.riazhaq.com/2011/09/pakistan-tops-south-asia-jobs-growth.html

Riaz Haq said...

Here's an excerpt of a report in The Nation about an International Coal Conf in Karachi:

The international conference was told that Thar region of Sindh province is endowed with mammoth coal (lignite) reserves estimated to be 175 billion tonnes which can produce 100,000MW of electricity for next 300 years and can be a key to energy security and economic prosperity.
----------
“The government has started working on the policy of retrofitting 5300MW of furnace oil based power plants to coal-based initially on imported coal and then on indigenous coal when available,” he (Minister Naveed Qamar) informed the audience.
-----------
Removing the misconceptions about Thar coal, Dr Marcos Leontidis, mining expert from Greece, said that the stripping ratio in Thar is around 6.6: 1, which is much better than many lignite mines in the world including Greece.
Dr Larry Thomas, coal expert from United Kingdom, said that sulphur content in Thar is acceptable being at 0.7%, which is lower than found in many other lignite resources already being used in the world and its moisture levels are same or even less than found in most of the lignite mines in the world. He further said the coal from Thar although may not be exportable to other countries but can be transported to be used in other parts of the province after drying.
Nigel Pickett from SRK-UK in his presentation said renewable energy cannot provide Pakistan reliable energy supplies due to its seasonal and cyclic nature. It has to be part of our energy mix to meet the peak demands and reduce fossil fuel consumption. Volatility of oil prices in 2007 brought heavy stress on the economy and indigenous coal provides the only option to achieve energy security for the country.
Zubair Motiwala, Chairman Sindh Board of Investment, briefed the forum about investment potential of Thar coal and said many international companies from China, South Korea, Germany, Czech Republic, Australia, UK and Turkey have shown their interest in investment in coal mining and power generation in Thar coal and also in the infrastructure projects. He also informed that the Government of Sindh is conducting 3rd International Competitive Bidding for blocks VIII, IX and X of Thar Coalfield and also blocks in Sonda and Badin for attracting international companies to develop coal mining and power generation projects in Sindh.
Mohammad Younus Dagha, Provincial Secretary Coal and Energy Development Department/MD Thar Coal and Energy Board stressed the need to create an ideal energy mix by replacing imported furnace oil to indigenous coal for power generation.


http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Business/23-Oct-2011/5300MW-plants-will-be-converted-to-coal-Qamar

Riaz Haq said...

Here's David Brooks of NY Times on "shale gas revolution" in America:

The United States is a country that has received many blessings, and once upon a time you could assume that Americans would come together to take advantage of them. But you can no longer make that assumption. The country is more divided and more clogged by special interests. Now we groan to absorb even the most wondrous gifts.

A few years ago, a business genius named George P. Mitchell helped offer such a gift. As Daniel Yergin writes in “The Quest,” his gripping history of energy innovation, Mitchell fought through waves of skepticism and opposition to extract natural gas from shale. The method he and his team used to release the trapped gas, called fracking, has paid off in the most immense way. In 2000, shale gas represented just 1 percent of American natural gas supplies. Today, it is 30 percent and rising.

John Rowe, the chief executive of the utility Exelon, which derives almost all its power from nuclear plants, says that shale gas is one of the most important energy revolutions of his lifetime. It’s a cliché word, Yergin told me, but the fracking innovation is game-changing. It transforms the energy marketplace.

The U.S. now seems to possess a 100-year supply of natural gas, which is the cleanest of the fossil fuels. This cleaner, cheaper energy source is already replacing dirtier coal-fired plants. It could serve as the ideal bridge, Amy Jaffe of Rice University says, until renewable sources like wind and solar mature.

Already shale gas has produced more than half a million new jobs, not only in traditional areas like Texas but also in economically wounded places like western Pennsylvania and, soon, Ohio. If current trends continue, there are hundreds of thousands of new jobs to come.

Chemical companies rely heavily on natural gas, and the abundance of this new source has induced companies like Dow Chemical to invest in the U.S. rather than abroad. The French company Vallourec is building a $650 million plant in Youngstown, Ohio, to make steel tubes for the wells. States like Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York will reap billions in additional revenue. Consumers also benefit. Today, natural gas prices are less than half of what they were three years ago, lowering electricity prices. Meanwhile, America is less reliant on foreign suppliers.

All of this is tremendously good news, but, of course, nothing is that simple. The U.S. is polarized between “drill, baby, drill” conservatives, who seem suspicious of most regulation, and some environmentalists, who seem to regard fossil fuels as morally corrupt and imagine we can switch to wind and solar overnight.

The shale gas revolution challenges the coal industry, renders new nuclear plants uneconomic and changes the economics for the renewable energy companies, which are now much further from viability. So forces have gathered against shale gas, with predictable results.

The clashes between the industry and the environmentalists are now becoming brutal and totalistic, dehumanizing each side. Not-in-my-backyard activists are organizing to prevent exploration. Environmentalists and their publicists wax apocalyptic.

Like every energy source, fracking has its dangers. The process involves injecting large amounts of water and chemicals deep underground. If done right, this should not contaminate freshwater supplies, but rogue companies have screwed up and there have been instances of contamination.

The wells, which are sometimes beneath residential areas, are serviced by big trucks that damage the roads and alter the atmosphere in neighborhoods. A few sloppy companies could discredit the whole sector...........


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/opinion/brooks-the-shale-gas-revolution.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=brooks&st=cse

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan planning to purchase two nuclear power plants from China, reports The Express Tribune:

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan has planned to purchase two nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of 2,000 megawatts from China, which will be utilised for setting up Karachi Nuclear Power Plant-2 (Kanupp-2) and Kanupp-3 and help mitigate the energy crisis.

According to documents available with The Express Tribune, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) are likely to enter into an agreement to conduct a joint study to finalise design modifications, which would enable Pakistan to acquire two nuclear power plants, each having power generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

After completion of this project, a contract for establishing Kanupp-2 and Kanupp-3 will be negotiated.

The Planning Commission has said CNNC may be asked to grant intellectual property rights for the existing 1,000-megawatt plant and suggest steps which could help Pakistan avoid violation of property rights.

China has three state-owned corporations, which can own and operate nuclear power plants, including China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Company (CGNPC) and China Power Investment Corporation (CPIC).

CGNPC currently operates four nuclear power plants of 3,758 megawatts in China and also involved in 16 other projects having capacity of 25,000 megawatts, which are under construction. The company’s focus has been on three-loop 1,000-megawatt plants.

The Planning Commission also questioned whether PAEC had approached the three nuclear power plant developers in order to ensure fair competition in offering the plants. “Moreover comparison of intellectual property rights of other nuclear power plant vendors may also be brought out,” the commission said.

In an attempt to increase power generation capacity, the government focuses on developing nuclear energy on a relatively bigger scale. Accordingly, the Energy Security Action Plan has envisaged increasing the share of nuclear power by installing 8,800-megawatt nuclear power plants by 2030.

The import of nuclear power plants will lead to electricity generation at cheaper rates compared to the thermal source, contributing to tackling the power crisis. About a month ago, power shortages reached their peak at around 8,000 to 8,500 megawatts, forcing long hours of outages across the country.

The load-shedding has disrupted industrial activity, denting overall economic growth of the country, which stood at 2.4 per cent last fiscal year.


http://tribune.com.pk/story/289908/energy-requirement-pakistan-to-buy-two-nuclear-power-plants-from-china/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's an Arab News report on Islamic Dev Bank funding a hydroelectric project in Pakistan:

JEDDAH: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has signed a $60 million lease finance deal with Pakistan for the development of the Patrind Hydropower Project.

The agreement was signed by Ahmed Al-Hariri, manager, country operations division, Southeast Asia and Farouk Javed, CEO, Star Hydropower Limited in Islamabad.

The power plant is expected to be completed by 2016 and add 147 MW of power to the country’s national grid, helping the Asian country increase utilization of its renewable resources and generate power in an economically sustainable manner to reduce dependency on imported fuel.

“The project represents 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. After 30 years concession period the project will be handed over to the government of Pakistan,” a statement on the South Asian News Agency (SANA) said.

According to data from the IDB, Pakistan is the second-largest beneficiary of IDB financing.

Since the bank’s inception in the mid-1970’s the multi-lender has committed $7.6 billion including 85 projects worth $2.2 billion mainly in the transportation and power-generation sectors to the country.

In addition to the financing being committed by the IDB, funding is also being provided by the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation for a total injection of nearly $400 million for the project.

The project, according to a study carried out by its sponsors, Star Hydropower Limited, will call for the resettlement of 28 residences in the small village of Patrind on the Kumhar River.

“In Pakistan the increasing demand for electric power is now outstripping the supply. The gap between supply and demand has resulted in load shedding, causing serious setback to national economy. To close this gap, different possibilities for electrical power generation have been identified including a series of hydropower projects,” the report stated.


http://arabnews.com/economy/article555273.ece

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a NY Times story on India benefiting from plummeting prices of solar panels and solar energy:

Over the last decade, India has opened the state-dominated power-generating industry to private players, while leaving distribution and rate-setting largely in government hands. European countries heavily subsidize solar power by agreeing to buy it for decades at a time, but the subsidies in India are lower and solar operators are forced into to greater competition, helping push down costs.

This month, the government held its second auction to determine the price at which its state-owned power trading company — NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam — would buy solar-generated electricity for the national grid. The average winning bid was 8.77 rupees (16.5 cents) per kilowatt hour.

That is about twice the price of coal-generated power, but it was about 27 percent lower than the winning bids at the auction held a year ago. Germany, the world’s biggest solar-power user, pays about 17.94 euro cents (23 American cents) per kilowatt hour.

India still significantly lags behind European countries in the use of solar. Germany, for example, had 17,000 megawatts of solar power capacity at the end of 2010. But India, which gets more than 300 days of sunlight a year, is a more suitable place to generate solar power. And being behind is now benefiting India, as panel prices plummet, enabling it to spend far less to set up solar farms than countries that pioneered the technology.

In its solar power auctions, moreover, NTPC is not creating open-ended contracts. The last auction, for example, was for a total of only 350 megawatts, which will cap the government’s costs. The assumption is that the price of solar power will continue to decline, eventually approaching the cost of electricity generated through conventional methods.

Most Indian power plants are fueled by coal and generate electricity at about 4 rupees (7.5 cents) per kilowatt hour — less than half of solar’s cost now. In this month’s auction, the recent winning bids were comparable to what India’s industrial and commercial users pay for electricity — from 8 to 10 rupees. And solar’s costs are competitive with power plants and back-up generators that burn petroleum-based fuels, whose electricity costs about 10 rupees per kilowatt hour.

“At least during daytime, photovoltaic panels will compete with oil-generated electricity more than anything else” in India, said Cédric Philibert, a senior analyst at the International Energy Agency in Paris. “This comparison is becoming better and better every month.”

In addition to the federal government, several of India’s states like Gujarat, where Khadoda is located, are also buying power at subsidized rates from solar companies like Azure Power.

Analysts do not expect India’s solar rollout to be problem free. They say some developers have probably bid too aggressively in the federal auctions and may not be able to build their plants fast or cheap enough to survive. Consequently, or because their bids were speculative, some developers are trying to sell their government power agreements to third parties, analysts say, even though such flipping is against the auction rules.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/business/energy-environment/in-solar-power-india-begins-living-up-to-its-own-ambitions.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Riaz Haq said...

Vestas has received an order for a total capacity of 50.4 MW, consisting of 28 units of the V90-1.8 MW wind turbines for a wind farm project in Nooriabad in the Jimphir region of Pakistan, according to Reve:

The contract comprises supply of the wind turbines, supervision of the installation on site, commissioning as well as a VestasOnline® Business SCADA system and a two-year service and availability agreement. Delivery of the wind turbines is scheduled to start in the first half of 2012 and the wind power project is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

The order has been placed by Zorlu Energy Pakistan Ltd., which is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of the Turkish Zorlu Enerji Electricity Generation Inc. In 2006, the company signed an agreement with the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) of the Government of Pakistan to build the first wind farm in Pakistan for a total capacity of 56.4 MW. The first phase of the wind power project comprising 6 MW has been in operation since 2009 and the second phase comprising the 50.4 MW will be delivered by Vestas.

Murat Sungur Bursa, CEO of Zorlu Energy Group declares: “We take pride in building the first wind power plant in Pakistan, which will lead the wind industry in the country and, hopefully, will motivate other investors to seek opportunities in the region. In this wind farm, Vestas is a very strong technology partner offering us reliable and efficient products. We trust that they will deliver the best solutions with high-quality service and professional sector experience both locally and globally. Our partnership on this particular project will have a positive impact within the region in terms of social and economic welfare and it will strengthen our collaboration.”

“We are pleased to have been chosen as preferred partner for this project by Zorlu Enerji, one of the largest energy companies in Turkey. They have shown their trust in our capabilities and our team to support them in this new challenging project in Pakistan ensuring business case certainty and a high return on the investment,” says Olcayto Yigit, Director, sales region Turkey, Vestas Türkiye.

Juan Araluce, President, Vestas Mediterranean, concludes: “We are extremely proud to start our operations in a new market, such as Pakistan, through the development of this important project together with the Zorlu Energy Group. I am very confident that this project will pave the way for an even stronger relationship between both companies.”

Sean Sutton, President, Vestas Asia Pacific, concludes: “We are glad to be part of this prestigious project in Pakistan. We believe that this milestone puts Vestas in an advantageous position to encourage and support the development of wind power in this country going forward.”

Zorlu Energy Pakistan’s 56.4 MW wind power plant will have an estimated annual production of 159,000 MWh per year, which corresponds to the residential electricity consumption of approx. 350,000 persons in Pakistan. Moreover, the wind farm will save the environment from more than 90,000 tons of CO2 emissions on an annual basis.

As part of its short-term policy, the Government of Pakistan introduced in 2006 a Policy for Development of Renewable Energy for Power Generation with the aim of utilizing the unexploited wind resources in the country as well as of attracting new investments to Pakistan. This cooperation between Zorlu Enerji and Vestas will be a landmark to pave the way for developing wind energy in the country.

http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=15518

Riaz Haq said...

Stored solar? Here's NY Times on storing solar energy for the hours when the sun is not shining:

..That would be solar thermal power, which harnesses heat from the sun and converts it to steam to make electricity as the need arises, especially when the sun has disappeared behind a cloud or dropped below the horizon.

Electricity is unique among major commodities in that it must be produced and consumed simultaneously. It can be stored in a battery, of course, but for now, that technology’s costs are so high that batteries are used mostly to smooth out production from renewable sources, not to save it for later.

The economics of a plant that can store bulk amounts of energy are a bit arcane. At the simplest level, the idea is to gather the sun’s heat when it is available and save it until prices for electricity reach a peak. At the moment, though, prices peak when the sun is high in the sky, because that is when the demand for power, mostly for air-conditioning, is highest. Some experts think it will be years before the power system is so saturated with solar photovoltaics that thermal storage becomes worthwhile.

“As the world exists now, what you’re doing with storage is taking high-priced peak potential generation and moving it to off-peak,” said George Sterzinger, director of the Renewable Energy Policy Project, a nonprofit group in Washington.

But one solar thermal plant with storage is already in service, near Seville, Spain. Built by Torresol Energy, the plant is small, just under 20 megawatts. And four are in construction or on the drawing boards in the American Southwest, as I explained in my article.

Their backers are betting that photovoltaics will get cheap and will drive down the price of electricity in daylight hours. But there are other reasons that energy storage might be a good deal from a financial point of view.

One is that the two biggest forms of renewable energy, wind and solar, have a tendency to gear up and then fall off very quickly, at least by the standards of conventional generators. If the rest of the system has to respond, then a lot of plants running on coal or natural gas would have to increase their output or cut it very quickly.

If the fraction of energy derived from renewable sources is small, that’s not a big problem; if solar makes up, say, 2 percent of production, and if it falls by half in a few minutes, the rest of the system can compensate. But if solar makes up 20 percent, the potential problem gets bigger.

Paul Denholm, a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Boulder, Colo., recently estimated that 5 percent of annual photovoltaic production might have to be shut off because it came at the wrong time or introduced too much instability into the system. Adding storage, he said, could be worth 0.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. (That sounds small, but it’s an appreciable fraction of the national average retail price of a kilowatt-hour, which is around 11 cents.)

Worth even more is the value of a source that can be counted on to produce when needed, as opposed to when the sun is shining; that’s worth 0.7 cents to 2 cents, he calculated.

There are other ways to store electricity, but all of them incur costs, both for equipment and the energy. The “round-trip efficiency” of a solar thermal system – that is, the ratio of energy recovered compared with the energy invested – is in the range of 95 percent. That’s far higher than the ratio for the biggest conventional form of storage, pumped hydro, which involves pumping water up a hill and letting it turn a turbine to make electricity on the way down later.

Another technique is storing energy by compressing air. But with either of these, the energy being stored might have come from a coal-fired plant, which will not help the environment or help a utility meet its quota for renewable energy.

Riaz Haq said...

Excerpts from The Nation story on $513 million ADB loan for water and power projects in Pakistan:

Pakistan and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has singed two loan agreements worth of $513.24 million that included $270 million for the tranche-2 of the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Investment Programme (PIAIP) and $243.24 million for tranche-3 of the Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme.

Secretary Irrigation Department Punjab and Country Director Asian Development Bank in Pakistan have signed the first agreement of "Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Investment Programme (PIAIP) Tranche-II". This agreement aims at sustainable improved delivery of services for irrigated agriculture and better water management in Punjab. The project aims to provide reliable irrigation supplies to the Lower Chenab Canal Command area.

According to the agreement this project would include construction of a new barrage complex to be located approximately 275 meters downstream of the exiting Khanki Headwork on the river Chenab, which new barrage complex shall include a main weir and under sluice; gats and hosting arrangements; and operating deck and access road bridge. Construction of a canal head regulator adjacent to the new barrage and a lead channel to the existing lower Chenab canal and the dismantling of the existing Khanki Headwork and provision of implementation support to the project executing agency for construction supervision and management expenses of PMO barrage. The project is expected to be completed by the 30th June 2016. Secretary Economic Affairs Division and Country Director Asian Development Bank in Pakistan singed the second agreement Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme tracnhe-III.

This agreement targets to enhance the efficiency of the overall power transmission system and to provide an adequate and reliable power supply to a greater number of commercial, industrial and residential consumers. The projects shall comprise following, a new 600km 500 KV transmission line from Jahmshoro to Moro, Daudu and Rahim Yar Khan, a new 500 KV grid stations a Moro and expansion/ augmentation of 3 existing 500 KV grid stations at Jamshoro. Dadu and Rahim Yar Khan. A new 125 KM 220 KV transmission line from UCH-II power plant to the 220-grid station at Sibbi, and a connection between the UCH-I and UCH-II power plants. A new 200 KV grid station at Mansehra and procurement of transmission system equipment. This project is expected to be completed by 31st December 2015.


http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/business/19-Jan-2012/adb-signs-loan-deals-with-pakistan-513-24m-for-power-agriculture

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan wants to be leading producer of wind energy, says a story in Express Tribune:

Despite being a late entrant to the wind energy race, Pakistan is soon going to join leading wind energy producers because of growing interest of investors and forward-looking renewable energy policies of the government, says Fauji Fertilizer Company Energy Limited Project Director Brigadier (R) Tariq Izaz.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a briefing arranged for select media at the company site at Jhampir, District Thatta, on Thursday.

“With eight projects of wind energy in progress, the country is all set to take off in this area,” said Izaz. “This will not only reduce electricity shortages, but will also help ease the burden of oil imports that cost over $12 billion annually.”

Fauji Fertilizer Company Energy Limited (FFCEL) will start producing electricity on commercial basis from November this year, which will be the first addition of wind power to the national grid. The company initially plans to produce 50 megawatts and later expand the capacity to 250 megawatts.

Izaz said the future of wind power was extremely bright because of the wind corridors in Sindh. To substantiate his point, he said, the fair category of wind speed in most parts of the world is between 6.2 and 6.9 metres per second (m/s). There are a few places that come under the good category where wind speed is between 7 and 7.3 m/s.

Fortunately, the wind speed in the Sindh corridor is stronger than the above two categories and it stands in the excellent category that is between 7.5 and 7.7 m/s.

FFCEL, a subsidiary of Fauji Fertilizer Company, will start trial energy production from June, which will be provided to the national grid free of charge by the time commercial production starts in November.

According to a USAID report, Pakistan has the potential of producing 150,000 megawatts of wind energy, of which only the Sindh corridor can produce 40,000 megawatts. Jhampir, Gharo and Keti Bander are the three areas where Sindh has a huge potential for wind energy.

Fauji Fertilizer has acquired 1,283 acres of land for the project and invested $135 million since its start in March 2007. At present, the company is in the process of installing 33 wind turbines.

Izaz claimed that the project had achieved 60% completion target. Seventeen sets of wind turbines and blades have already arrived, while remaining 16 turbines and blades are scheduled to reach Karachi in March.

He said seven wind turbines had already been installed and the remaining 25 towers were in different stages of manufacturing at the Karachi Manufacturing Works at Bin Qasim.

Keeping in view the country’s energy demand, the government has decided to increase the share of renewable sources in the overall energy mix. The renewable energy policy was unveiled in December 2006 and the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has issued 97 letters of interest for wind energy – FFC got 24th for 50 megawatts and 96th for an additional 100 megawatts. AEDB also allotted land to 23 investors – 12 in Gharo and 11 in Jhampir.


http://tribune.com.pk/story/341000/pakistan-to-take-lead-in-wind-energy/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Power Engg website report on renewable energy potential in Pakistan:

Pakistan's geography is most conducive to exploitation of solar energy as it is 6th most fortunate country in the world in terms of solar irradiance and where sunshine availability is 8-10 hours per day over much of the plans of Sindh, Balochistan and Southern Punjab.

Solar energy intensity in sunbelt of Pakistan is approximately 1,800-2,200 Kwh per square meter per day which is most favourable for exploitation of solar energy. Potential capacity for installation of solar photovoltaic power by some estimates is 1,600 GW, which is 40 times greater than present consumption. Based on range of currently possible conversion efficiencies in area of one sq km has potential to produce 40-55MW power and can generate revenue conservatively estimated at Rs 1 billion per month at current average tariffs of Rs 10 per Kw-hr.

Since solar power is available only during times of sunshine, it can at most meet up to 30% of daily consumption without need for energy storage such as in underground salt deposits. Wasteland and desert of Thar, lower Sindh & Balochistan are prime contenders to establish large solar farms with capacities of generating more than 250 gigawatts electric power to meet energy shortfall over coming decades, says expert Samir Hoodbhoy who participated in technology breakthroughs in robotics systems, semi-conductors and first mobile cellular system developed. He directed creation of Central Design Bureau of Pakistan Steel Mills in 1988-92.

Hydrokinetic and solar thermal are two most promising alternate renewable energy solutions that can be used to reduce Pakistan's rising $10 billion annual fuel imports and energy deficits and at same time preserve environment by not adding to hazards of increased carbon gases emissions caused by use of furnace oil and natural gas. Deserts of Tharparkar & Balochistan have potential for producing several hundreds of GWatts power.
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Alternate Energy Development Board AEDB says Nokundi in Chagai district is one of world's most ideal wind corridors where wind speed is almost constantly 12.5% higher than average required for energy generation. Other parts of wind corridor includes a 300-kilometre-long area with wide open spaces from Dalbandin to Taftan, a town on border of Iran, Gharo to Keti Bandar in Thatta district of Sindh province which is 60 km long and 170 km deep corridor and estimated to have a power generation potential of 50,000MW. Similar is case of Lasbela district of Balochistan province, where wind energy at sustainable speed, good for power generation is available with little variation in seasons (five meters per second in winter and eight meters per second in summer).

Hoodbhoy says in Balochistan potential for wind generation is attractive, current unsettled political, socioeconomic conditions are disincentives for construction of large wind turbines and solar farms with capacities of 1MW. Under settled conditions, this region could easily become attractive carbon gas free energy producing center.

Mini wind farming projects (1-50 kWatts) along with small solar farms scattered over remote inaccessible areas presents attractive proposition that will help mitigate localized needs of electricity for lighting, communications, pumping water with tube wells for irrigation, domestic consumption. Larger wind power and solar power farms with individual production capacity of 0.5-500 MW developed along wind corridors and desert hinterland of Balochistan, respectively, have capacity to radically alter socioeconomic plight of Pakistan by resuscitating agricultural and industrial sectors.


http://www.power-eng.com/news/2012/02/22/wind-power-and-solar-energy-in-pakistan.html

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a News story on financing of the Neelum-Jhelum project:

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan desperately needs $704 million to complete the strategic Neelum-Jehlum hydropower project on time as the current available capital is only enough for four to five months, sources in the ministry of water and power told The News.



“The cost of the project has swelled to over Rs333 billion for which the Planning Commission is evaluating the revised PC-1 of the project which will be given approval by Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec),” a senior official, who is directly involved in the project, said.



“Pakistan needs a credit line at any cost to maintain the ongoing pace of construction of the project, otherwise project would get delayed,” the official added.



If the project is not completed on time by 2016, India would find itself in a better position to first complete the Kishan-Ganga hydropower project on the Neelum River in the held Kashmir.



Under the Water Treaty, the country which completes the project first on Neelum river will have the first water priority rights. Pakistan is already in a legal battle at the International Court of Arbitration in Hague against India over faulty design of the Indian project.



Keeping in view the strategic emergency of the project, the official said, Pakistan needs $704 million and in this regard the government is under dialogue with various donor countries.



“China has already committed $483 million loan, but it has delayed the disbursement of the credit line,” the official said and added that the Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani is scheduled to visit Beijing some time this month and top priority of the agenda of the premier is to ensure the credit line from the EXIM Bank of China.



“Similarly, Islamic Development Bank has also committed $326 million for the project and the authorities in Pakistan are seeking additional $255 million.”



Moreover, the Saudi Development Fund has also committed $80 million but authorities are asking them to increase the credit line to up to $230 million, the official said. However, negotiations to this effect between Pakistan and Saudi Arab are underway. The UAE has also committed $100 million. The OPEC Fund has also indicated to extend $31 million which may go up to $80 million.


http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-98495-Pakistan-urgently-needs-$704-million-credit-line

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a News story of how the worst-hit Punjab industries are switching to alternate power and gas generation:

The Punjab industries are converting on alternative energy due to uninterrupted power and gas outages of six to eights hours daily, besides improving their efficiency to reduce costs and stay competitive domestically and internationally, analysts said on Tuesday.

“We are unable to compete with similar industries in other provinces that enjoy full gas supplies and lower electricity load-shedding, said Syed Nabeel Hashmi, Chairman Punjab Economic Forum.

The majority of industries are suffering from power and gas load-shedding, but some have managed to reduce the operating cost through improvement in their efficiencies.The manufacturing sector in Punjab is now using biomass (agricultural waste), solid municipal waste, coal gasifiers, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used tyres, rejected leather soles as alternative fuels to gas, furnace oil and diesel, he said.



In addition, Punjab industries have upgraded technology and their human resource to improve productivity, said Hashmi.Gohar Ejaz, group leader All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, said, “We would never have realised the quantum of savings that could be made through energy audits.”



German non-government organisation GIZ and Small and Medium Enterprises Authority (SMEDA) have facilitated APTMA member mills by providing free services of highly qualified foreign energy audit and management system experts, he said, adding that only through energy audit and the resultant cost-free changes in the manufacturing system 25 APTMA members gained a cumulative benefit of Rs258 million per annum.



The benefits doubled for those mills that agreed to make some minor investments, he said, adding that savings made through improvement in efficiencies did provide some relief to the mills when they used alternative energy resources.



Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Senior Vice President Kashif Yunus Mehr, who is associated with the steel melting industry, said that larger steel melting units have imported coal gasifiers from China.



The gas produced is use to heat the furnaces, he said.“It costs 20 percent higher than the natural gas as it was the only alternative to keep the industry running as natural gas is mostly unavailable.”

These gasifiers require investment of Rs25 million that mills with small capacities cannot afford, he said, adding that the small steel melting units are using locally-fabricated small gasifiers that are highly inefficient, but serve the purpose of keeping the production intact.



Among the larger corporate sector, Nishat Group has established a 12MW biomass and solid municipal waste-run power plant at its textile processing unit in Lahore, he said.To cut its cost, it is recovering the caustic soda used in its processing mills by installing a recovery plant at its water treatment facility, said Mehr.



At its cement factory in Kalar Kahar, it is using solid municipal waste, used tyres, rubber chappals, rice husk, wheat straw, corn cob, as fuel for heating purposes.“We are not using power supplied by the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) in most of the manufacturing facilities of our group,” said Nishat Group Chairman Mian Mohammud Mansha.



Engineering sector entrepreneur Almas Hyder said, “Unfortunately our industrial sector grew initially on protection that gave rise to huge inefficiencies.”By improving efficiencies the increase in cost of production could be absorbed to a large extent, he said.


http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-99810-Punjab-industries-converting-to-alternative-energy

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Nation story on China approving $450 billion loan for Neelum-Jhelum dam project:

Chinese EXIM Bank, after a long delay, has now approved $450 million loan to finance 969MW Neelum Jhelum hydropower project, which would add about 5.15 billion units of cheap electricity to the national grid every year by 2016.Well-placed official sources informed TheNation that Chinese EXIM Bank after a long delay has now approved $450 million loan to finance the Neelum Jhelum hydropower project located near Muzaffarabad adding that the Economic Affair Division (EAD) has also gotten an approval from the Chinese bank in this regard. They told that the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project needed $700 million foreign funding to complete the project by 2016. The major financiers of the project include the Kuwait Fund, the Export Import Bank of China, the government of the UAE and the Saudi Fund for Development. Sources further told that project had originally been budgeted to cost Rs130 billion, but costs had witnessed skyrocketed rise by 154per cent to Rs330 billion. In the revised plan submitted by the water and power ministry, the main reason for the spike in costs was attributed to a change in design, but a detailed examination of the figures has shown that primary cause for the increase was delay in completion. Sources further told that more than 30per cent of the work on the project had been completed. The project would earn about Rs45 billion in revenues annually and would therefore be able to recover its cost of construction within seven years.It is also learnt that as the Chinese EXIM bank found hesitant to release the worthy amount since 2009 resultantly the delay for unknown reasons had caused the cost of the project to rise to Rs330 billion ($3.7 billion). It was also feared that the pace of construction might slowdown providing an edge to India, which had been building Kishanganga project on the same Neelum River on its side of Kashmir because if Pakistan failed to complete its project before India, then it might lose the water rights to the upper riparian country. Further, according to Indus Water Treaty (IWT), the country that first completes its project on Neelum tributary will have the priority rights on the water of Neelum River. Furthermore, the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project Company (NJHPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Water and Power Development Authority was set up to manage this very project.It is to be noted here that the top man of China had committed this loan during the visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Beijing in 2009 but the Chinese Exim bank did not entrain Pakistan although three years have elapsed since the commitment of China to Pakistan resultantly the country was in contact with Islamic Development Bank, Saudi Development Bank, Abu Dhabi Fund, Kuwait Fund for the required finding. Even IDB had committed $200 million, Saudi Fund $337 million, Abu Dhabi Fund $100 million and Kuwait Fund $30 million and the government was pursing the said donors to expedite the disbursement of their credit line for the timely completion of the project.Waqar Masood Secretary Economic Affairs Division while confirming the information pertaining the receiving of approval worth of $450 million loan to help finance the 969-megawatt Neelum Jhelum hydropower project. He also informed that documentation process in this regard would take one month while disbursement of such a hefty amount is likely within one-month....

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/business/23-May-2012/china-bank-approves-450-million-loan

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Reuters' report on $3 billion Chinese investment in wind energy in Pakistan:

Chinese oil and gas company United Energy Group Ltd (0467.HK) said on Wednesday it plans to invest $3 billion in a wind farm project in energy-starved Pakistan and is in talks to buy equipment from mainland suppliers.

United Energy, which paid BP (BP.L) $775 million for oil and gas assets in Pakistan in 2010, said it plans to construct the wind farm in several phases. It did not disclose the targeted total capacity for the project or provide a timeframe.

The company said, however, it had already obtained approval from the Pakistan government to construct a wind power project with a capacity of 500 megawatts.

Pakistan, which suffers chronic shortages of electricity, is offering clean energy producers higher rates for renewable power as it seeks to boost production, while diversifying energy supply away from oil and gas.

The major suppliers of wind power equipment in China are Sinovel (601558.SS) and Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology (002202.SZ)(2208.HK).


http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/30/us-china-pakistan-windfarm-idUSBRE84T0E520120530

Riaz Haq said...

Conergy will plan and supply Pakistan’s biggest solar-power plant as the country seeks to increase access to electricity, reports Bloomberg:

The 50-megawatt project at Bahawalpur in the Cholistan region is owned by DACC Power Generation Co. and the Pakistani government and will supply 30,500 households with electricity, Conergy said today in an e-mailed statement.

Total investment will probably be about $170 million to $190 million, with Conergy’s share at about 60 million euros ($75 million) to 70 million euros, said Antje Stephan, a Conergy spokeswoman.

The government is seeking to spur investment, create jobs and expand access to power in a country where some areas can be without energy for as long as 18 hours a day, Conergy said. The company, working with developer Ensunt Inc., will supply 210,000 modules and 140 inverters, the Hamburg-based manufacturer said.


http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-04/conergy-agrees-to-supply-pakistan-s-largest-solar-energy-complex.html

Riaz Haq said...

World Bank agrees to fund Dasu Dam in Pakistan, reports Express Tribune:

Following the signing of an agreement with the government of Pakistan for providing $840 million for the 1,410-megawatt Tarbela 4th Extension Project, the World Bank has also agreed to extend financial assistance to the 4,320MW Dasu Hydropower Project.

It has also been agreed that the project will be constructed in phases after work on the 4,500MW Diamer-Bhasha Dam is initiated and its financial plan is finalised.

Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Shakil Durrani stated this while presiding over a meeting here at the Wapda House to discuss the report submitted by an international panel of experts.

Addressing the meeting, the Wapda chairman said international financial institutions were taking keen interest in providing funds for Wapda projects due to excellent ‘economic internal rate of return’ (EIRR) of these schemes.

The Dasu project is part of the least-cost energy production plan of Wapda aimed at harnessing the country’s hydropower resources to improve the share of hydroelectricity in energy mix.

The project will be constructed on the Indus River, seven km upstream of Dasu village and 74 km downstream of Diamer-Bhasha Dam. The project is situated on the Karakoram Highway, about 350 km from Islamabad.

According to a statement issued by Wapda, the priority is to construct Diamer-Bhasha Dam for which land acquisition process has already started and 13 contracts for offices, colonies and roads have been awarded.

Dasu Hydropower Project will follow the initiation of work on Diamer-Bhasha Dam. Detailed engineering design, for which the World Bank is providing funds, and tender documents are likely to be completed in early 2013. Afterwards, construction work will commence.

The project will generate 21.3 billion units of electricity per annum and will also have positive impact on existing hydropower stations including Tarbela, Ghazi Barotha and Chashma.


http://tribune.com.pk/story/397368/world-bank-agrees-to-fund-dasu-hydropower-project/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's Businessweek story on South Korean company building 300 MW solar plant in Pakistan:



CX Solar Korea is leading a group that signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan to build a 300-megawatt solar farm that will require an investment of as much as $900 million.

The group plans to start a 50-megawatt installation near Quetta in southwestern Balochistan province that will use a combination of crystalline silicon and thin-film panels to see which perform best, said Moon-sok Choi, chief executive of CX Solar, a Seoul-based project developer.

The group expects to build 300 megawatts by 2016, Choi said. The power will be sold under a 25-year contract, with details still being negotiated, Choi said in an e-mailed response to questions.

CX Solar is in talks with panel suppliers, including Bernin, France-based Soitec SA (SOI), which makes Concentrix photovoltaic panels, Choi said.


http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-16/south-korean-group-plans-900-million-pakistan-solar-farm.html

Riaz Haq said...

Here's an ET-APP story on renewable energy to overcome Pakistan's energy crisis:

The chief executive of the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), Arif Alauddin has said that a number of projects are in the pipeline to overcome the energy crisis in the country; giving relief to the people.

Giving an interview to the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), he said that 500 megawatts (MW) of electricity will be added to the national grid in the next few months. He said that his board is mandated only to attract private sector investment while the public sector was meant only to regulate and facilitate the process.

“Pakistan is relying heavily on fossil fuels to meet its energy requirements and the nation is spending more than $11 billion on import of petroleum products annually,” Alauddin said. The oil import bill will increase to $38 billion by 2015 and Pakistan remains at a strategic risk due its heavy reliance on fuel imports, he added.

He said that after the establishment of the AEDB in 2003, Pakistan has made considerable progress in this field. To a question, he replied that the board recently approved the New Park Energy Phase I – a 400MW wind project near Port Qasim. With help of the China Three Gorges Corporation, a 50MW wind energy plant in Sindh will be completed by next year The chairman said that recently, a memorandum of understanding has been signed at a two-day second Pak-China Joint Energy Group (JEWG) for setting up wind energy projects.

To another question, he said that a number of countries have successfully developed renewable energy sources to minimise dependence on fossil fuels. Realising country’s growing demand of the industrial and agricultural sectors and growing domestic consumption; the government has initiated several renewable energy projects to address the power shortfall, he said.


http://tribune.com.pk/story/430688/alternative-energy-projects-will-eradicate-power-shortfall/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Business Recorder report on Tarbela dam's 4th tunnel power generation project:

The government would award the contract of 'Tarbela Fourth Extension Hydropower Project', costing $928.9 million, including $840 million World Bank loan in March next year to initiate Civil and Engineering and Management (E&M) work. According to documents obtained by Business Recorder, mobilisation of contract was expected by the end April 2013. Pre-qualification of applicants for Civil and E&M works is under way.

The project would be completed by June 2018. The government would spend $88.9 million for this project. Tarbela has an installed power generation capacity of 3,478 megawatts on tunnels 1, 2 and 3 while tunnel 4 was originally intended for irrigation water releases only, but subsequent studies proposed its conversion to irrigation-cum-generation tunnel.

The latest proposed installed capacity of Tarbela is 1,410MW. Ultimately, Tarbela's capacity would be upgraded to 4,888MW after the development of tunnel 4. The projected energy form the project is 3840 GWh/year while annual capacity factor is 31 %.

According to the Project's cost estimate, powerhouse and tunnel work is to cost $307.45 million, turbines, generators and auxiliaries; $434.24 million and implementation of SAP and EMP dam monitoring $28.63 million. Similarly, project management, technical assistance and training cost is $20.45 million while base cost with physical/price construction is $817.9 million.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the Project on August 16 this year for Rs 83.6 billion, including foreign exchange component of Rs 65.8 billion. A million families would benefit from the additional power. Load shedding would be substantially reduced. Documents also showed that about Rs 39 billion per annum revenue was expected after the completion of the Project. During construction period, between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs would be created.


http://www.brecorder.com/top-stories/0/1252452/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a BR report on training workers to boost renewable energy sector:

Technology Upgradation and Skill Development Company (TUSDEC) has joined hands with GIZ, Pakistan to foster the renewable energy sector in the country by developing skilled force in various disciplines of solar technologies. The programme is being implemented under the implications of FIT (Funds for Innovative Training), Green Skills initiative.

A company spokesman said on Wednesday that TUSDEC will enroll 125 candidates in 5 batches to be trained in various areas of Photovoltaic and Solar Water Heating Systems. The overall programme duration is stretched over one year where each course will be for a span of three months.

The spokesman further shared that state-of-the-art facilities of NIDA Lahore centre will be utilised to administer the theoretical as well as practical trainings sessions, while on-site demonstrations will be organised specifically in the disciplines of Water Pumping and Solar Dryer where proficient master trainers will deliver the lectures, employing the originally deployed infrastructure.

According to him, TUSDEC has conducted an acute baseline analysis comprised of rigorous focus groups with major enterprises (Suppliers, Manufacturers and Assemblers) of solar power equipment and solar heating systems that has divulged huge dearth of trained manpower in the industry.

TUSDEC experts' panel has contrived market-oriented and internationally accredited training curricula, which will enable the trainees to serve productively in the approaching industry. TUSDEC further aims to nurture the diverse areas of renewable energy sector in Pakistan with the provision of immensely adroit and skilled manpower. Pakistan is experiencing approx 12 percent increase in its energy consumption with each passing year. The prevalent situation suggests a dire need of infrastructure investment as well as manpower cultivation in various alternate energy sources to effectively impede the resultant economic revolt, he said.


http://www.brecorder.com/fuel-a-energy/193/1256337/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Nation story on KESC's planned investments to add capacity and reduce cost of generating power:

Karachi Electric Supply Company has reaffirmed its commitment towards Pakistan by announcing an ambitious investment plan in excess of Rs40 billion. According to the statement, KESC has already invested around USD one billion over the last four years in various large scale projects in generation, transmission and distribution. The new Rs40 billion investment plan is aimed at enhancing KESC’s generation capacity, improving its generation fleet efficiency, reducing the cost of power generation and building the requisite transmission capacity to meet growing power demand across its service territory. These projects will be completed over the next 18-36 months and KESC will be arranging required funding from local and foreign institutions in shape of both debt and equity.CEO KESC, in a related statement said, “We believe in the potential that Pakistan offers and despite the difficult operating environment we have demonstrated this through unprecedented investments in the past. The new investment plan is just a reiteration of this belief and comes at a time when Pakistan is witnessing dampening of investors’ sentiments, both local and foreign”.Under the new investment plan, KESC is undertaking combined cycle projects at its three power plants at Korangi and SITE that will significantly enhance the efficiency of these plants and add additional 47 MW of generation capacity. A specially designed ‘Transmission Package’ will see the installation of new transformer bays, addition of 3 new grid stations at strategic locations and extension of 6 existing grid stations. In line with the strategic intent to bring down the cost of generation, the new investment plan will allow KESC to convert two of its oil-fired units of 210 MW each at its Bin Qasim-I to coal. KESC is also undertaking to develop a bio-waste to energy project which will convert cattle manure from Landhi Cattle Colony and organic food waste to produce 22MW of electricity. The new investment plan will help KESC accomplish many strategic objectives, including creation of social and environmental values.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/karachi/08-Nov-2012/kesc-to-funnel-rs40b-for-power

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Daily Times report on planned biogas power plant in Karachi:

ISLAMABAD: IFC, a member of the World Bank Group is advising a Pakistan-based biogas company on the development of a waste-to-energy plant in Landhi, Karachi turning a serious environmental problem into a renewable energy resource.

The plant to be built by Karachi Organic Energy (KOEL) will convert cow manure into electricity while producing organic fertilizer as a byproduct. IFC will provide KOEL-a joint venture between Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited (KESC) and the Amman Foundation with advice on project development and financing.

When completed, it will generate up to 22 megawatts of power from animal waste that was currently being discharged directly into the sea. There is tremendous potential in this biogas project, said Tabish Gauhar, CEO of KESC. Its footprint extends beyond power generation. It will have a positive effect on the community and importantly on the environment. The plant will be the largest biogas project in the country and it is expected to serve as a model for future developments.


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\11\13\story_13-11-2012_pg5_3

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a News story except on solar energy applications in Pakistan:

A technical training workshop on ‘Solar Pumping System’ was organised by Institute of Space Technology (IST) here on Friday in collaboration with M/s Lorentz a leading manufacturer of solar-operated pump systems in the world and Nizam Energy Pakistan.



A large number of people from government, Research and Development organisations, HEC, universities, students and faculty attended the workshop. Participants showed keen interest in the workshop and the products presented by the companies.



The first of this series of workshops, ‘Solar Energy — A sole Savior’ was organised on November 16 in collaboration with M/s Canadian Solar and Nizam Energy Pakistan.



The purpose of these workshops was to discuss strategies for creating awareness which encourages wider adoption of solar power by businesses, households and agriculture etc. There are various options for the solution of energy crisis which include building dams a time consuming process, wind energy is available in some corridors, however, there is no dearth of sunlight which is not only abundantly available but Pakistan has some of the best irradiation in the world, yet we are amongst the slowest to take advantage of this God gifted source.
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IST Vice Chancellor Engineer Imran Rahman while welcoming the delegates and experts from world renowned enterprises in solar energy apprised the audience about possible co-ventures with international companies in order to make available import substitution through research and indigenisation of some important components, a dire need of the time for promotion of industrial-academia culture in the country.



The vice chancellor thanked Nizam Energy CEO Usman Ahmed for generous donation of 2 KW of complete solar system and to establish research lab facilities at IST in collaboration with world renowned companies and provide job opportunities to IST graduates.


http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-144718-IST-holds-workshop-on-Solar-Pumping-System

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Hydroworld report on Korean investment in Pak hydro sector:

LAHORE, Dec. 26 -- To harness water resources for electricity generation, two memoranda of understanding (MOU) have been signed by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and Korean firms. The agreement involves developing two hydropower projects in a public private partnership with a cumulative power generation capacity of 1,161 MW. According to an announcement made here on Monday, this agreement emerged from President Zardari's recent visit to Korea.

The first MoU was signed with Korea Midland Power Company (KOMIPO) for the 496 MW-Lower Spat Gah Hydropower Project and the second with K-Water/Daewoo consortium for the 665 MW-Lower Palas Valley Hydropower Project. The MoU was signed by Wapda Chairman Raghib Shah, KPK Shydo Managing Director Bahadur Shah, KOMIPO Chairman and CEO Choi Rak and K-Water representative in Pakistan, No Hyuk Park.

Korean Ambassador to Pakistan, Choong Joo Choi, was also present. Addressing the ceremony, he termed the signing of the MoU a milestone that would bring the two countries closer.

Shah said that the Korean firms, which were selected through international competitive biddings, will bring in with them an investment of more than two billion dollars for the construction of the two hydropower projects. This shows the confidence that international financial institutions have in Wapda for the implementation of projects in the water and hydropower sectors, he added.

Shah further said that the two projects will contribute more than 4.5 billion units of electricity to the National Grid annually. He said that they are part of the strategy for optimum utilisation of the water resources to help overcome electricity shortages and stabilise power tariff for the consumers. He said that Wapda is implementing more than 20 projects to generate roughly 20,000 MW of electricity and store 12 million acre feet of water.

Lower Spat Gah Hydropower Project is located on a left bank tributary of River Indus with its confluence some eight kilometers downstream of Dasu town in district Kohistan. Moreover, Lower Palas Valley Hydropower Project is located on another left bank tributary of River Indus with its confluence some 12 kilometers upstream of Patan town in Kohistan district


http://www.hydroworld.com/news/2012/12/25/pakistan-mou-signed-for-hydropower-projects.html

Riaz Haq said...

Here's Daily Times on wind energy farm projects in Pakistan:

Federal Minister for Water and Power Ch Ahmed Mukhtar has said that 45 Wind Power Projects of around 3,200 megawatts (MW) capacity are under completion process, out of which some are ready for commercial operation.

Among them wind projects worth 106 MW are ready for commercial operation, while another 150 MW projects are under construction. The next year will see at least 10 more projects – an investment of over $2 billion, the minister said while addressing as chief guest in the launching ceremony of Commemorative Postal Stamp on inauguration of Pakistan’s first 50 MW wind energy project by Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) on Wednesday.

He said that commencement of commercial operation of FFC Wind Farm Project is the beginning of exploiting the wind potential of renowned Gharo-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor- an area that alone offers power generation potential of 50,000 MW. I feel exalted that many more wind power projects are in pipeline and would commence their commercial operations one after another in the coming months.
----

Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) CEO Arif Allauddin in his welcome address said that the country would see more new projects in the alternative energy sector. Without taking away any credit from FFC, I wish to quickly recognise a number of other organisations and individuals without which this historic achievement would not have been possible – even for the competent team of FFC.

Allauddin said just like 8,000 parts of every wind turbine that must work in synchronisation, a number of agencies, organisations and individuals worked with dedication and unity of purpose to achieve this feat in such a short time.

This is not all. Recent data collected by AEDB has revealed that our wind corridors are not only rich in the wind resource, but the solar radiations here are of the highest quality – making this as one of the rare corridors in the world, where both wind and solar projects are viable.

FFC Managing Director Lt General (r) Khalid Naeem Lodhi also spoke on the occasion and said that the company is planning to invest more capital in the power sector and other wind project with the collaboration of China is under construction and soon would be completed.

Earlier, the minister launched the Commemorative Postal Stamp on the inauguration of the first wind power project.

Pakistan is blessed with enormous wind energy potential. Studies indicate that theoretical potential of wind energy in Pakistan is around 346,000 MW, out of which Gharo~Keti Bandar wind corridor solely has a potential of around 50,000 MW. Utilization of this enormous potential of clean, economical and inexhaustible source of energy can play a vital role in fulfilling the future energy demands of the country.

AEDB is facilitating the private sector in developing wind power projects in the country. The 49.5 MW wind power project developed by FFC Energy Ltd is the first among many others, which are at various stages of development. Four other wind power projects being developed by ZorluEnerji (56.4 MW), Three Gorges Pakistan (49.5 MW) and Foundation Wind Energy I and 11 (50 MW each) are under construction. ZorluEnerji has already completed the installation of wind turbines for their project and the project is expected to become operational by end of this month. In addition to this, wind power project of 400-600 MW capacity are expected to achieve Financial Close by end of 2013.

---

AEDB is enacted to facilitate the private sector for establishing Renewable Energy projects based on wind, solar, micro-hydel, bio-diesel, biomass, waste to energy, fuel cells, tidal, wave energy etc. AEDB is also vested with the responsibility of formulation of national strategies, policies, plans and programmes for development of alternative and renewable.


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\03\story_3-1-2013_pg5_6

Riaz Haq said...

Here's ET on promotion of biogas in Pak rural areas:

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET) has installed more biogas plants in rural areas, under a project of development and promotion of biogas technology for meeting domestic fuel needs of rural areas and production of bio-fertiliser.

“We can meet about 30% of the cooking requirements of rural masses from this source of energy [biogas] alone,” said an official privy to the matter.

He said the completion of the project will help protection of forests, environment and bio-diversity, and will provide soot-free fuel to meet domestic energy needs, a cleaner atmosphere, protection from eye-cataracts and respiratory diseases and bio-fertiliser.


http://tribune.com.pk/story/495108/alternative-energy-more-biogas-plants-installed-in-rural-areas/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's ET on ADB not objecting to Thar coal:

ISLAMABAD:

Engro Corporation President and CEO Muhammad Aliuddin Ansari has stated that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) does not object to financing the switchover of thermal power plants to Thar coal.

“The directors of ADB have met me and the chief minister of Sindh and said that they had no objection to the conversion of power plants to Thar coal and are ready to finance [such projects],” he told The Express Tribune.

The revelation comes on the heels of the Ministry of Water and Power’s claim that the ADB is not ready to finance the conversion of power plants to Thar coal, and that the lending authority would finance power plants that run only on imported coal.

Ansari also said he is ready to travel to Manila along with a delegation from the water and power ministry to meet ADB officials and negotiate a financing deal for such projects.

Ansari recalled that it had been decided in a special board meeting of the Thar Coal Energy Board (TCEB) on October 3, 2012, chaired by the prime minister of Pakistan, that existing oil-based power plants should be modified and redesigned to Thar coal specifications, and that new coal-based plants should also be designed keeping the same specifications in mind.

It was also decided in the meeting that agreements would be signed between power generation companies and the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) for the supply of coal for an existing 420 megawatt (MW) power plant in Jamshoro, as well as a new 600MW power plant to be built in the same location. These agreements were to be finalised and signed within a week, but never materialised.

Ansari said that Pakistan was facing a circular debt issue due to the poor energy mix employed by generation companies, and that conversion of power plants to run on Thar coal could address this issue. He claimed that Thar held the future of Pakistan, and reiterated that all future power plants should be designed on Thar coal specifications.

“Not only has the fuel mix shifted from gas to furnace oil, the price of furnace oil has increased four times in the last five years. This has increased the furnace oil bill by 461%, whereas power generation through furnace oil has increased by only 79%,” said a handout provided by Engro Corp as part of the interview.

Ansari said that Indonesia and India both held coal reserves that were similar in specification to the coal available in Thar. He remarked that India is expected to become a major market for coal by 2016: it already imports significant quantities to meet its needs....


http://tribune.com.pk/story/498215/engro-says-adb-has-no-objections-to-thar-coal-project/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's PakistanToday on nuclear power expansion in Pakistan:

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) envisages production of 8,800 MW by the year 2030 through nuclear power reactors. Two nuclear power plants, 340MW each, are under construction at Chashma and expected to be commissioned by 2016 with Chinese assistance. Construction of these power plants became possible after a long-standing agreement, while three other nuclear power plants already commissioned in the country are performing well. According to official sources, the allocation for PAEC is almost 11% of the total federal development budget estimated at Rs 360 billion for the financial year 2012-13.
Officials said a major chunk of the PAEC budget has been allocated to two nuclear power plants.
“An amount of Rs 34.6 billion has been set aside for Chashma Nuclear Power Plants, C3 and C4. The total cost of these two projects is Rs 190 billion which will be partially funded by a Rs 136 billion Chinese loan.
The government has so far spent Rs 62.4 billion on the mega project having a 660 MW generation capacity. With Rs 34.6 billion additional spending, the government will be able to complete almost half of the work by June 2013, an official said. According to an official in Ministry of Science and Technology, government is harmonising the efforts made in the energy sector by different ministries, departments and research centres by creating an ‘Energy Council’ with heads of relevant organisations. The council will be entrusted to advise on priority areas for Research and Development (R&D) and management of resources and to fill the gaps.
Acquisition of technology for building nuclear power reactors through R&D, as well as transfer of technology agreements is also in consideration, he said.


http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/01/24/news/profit/paec-to-produce-8800-mw-by-2030/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a summary of BMI report on Pak power sector:

Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/03/2013 -- BMI View: In spite of chronic and persistent power shortages, reflecting under-investment and system inefficiencies, Pakistan has a plethora of potentially varied and rich power options from which to choose. There is vast untapped hydro and renewables capacity available, but it remains to be seen if the investment will actually materialise. Thus, this is likely to increases the country's reliance on growing its gas-fired, coal-fuelled capacity, as well as its modest nuclear programme, although controversial import deals with Iran could cause political backlash. While these opportunities exist for the thermal generation, delays in payments by state-owned transmission companies to independent power producers limit the profitability of the sector, and could cap its growth.

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents

The country continues to suffer from a shortfall of electricity of more than 3 gigawatts (GW) daily, and while this has fallen from the highs of 7GW, permanent resolutions and solutions to the situation remain out of sight. While the shortfall is caused by poor performance from existing generating assets, the lack investment in generating capacity, and an inefficient grid, the government also faces difficulty in sustaining subsidies. This, in turn, drains the profitability of power generation companies, forcing them to cut back on much-needed investment in the sector.

The key trends and recent developments in the Pakistani electricity market include:

- The constructions of the various dams have met with increasing environmental concerns and financing issues, which threaten to stall works. In particular, the World Bank and other international aid agencies have withdrawn their support for the Diamer-Basha dam project due to environmental concerns raised by India. Given the growing demand for electricity, a delay in the completion or cancellation of the project could mean ,the electricity shortfall is likely to persist beyond the government's original timeline.
- Progress of talks between India and Pakistan regarding the sale of electricity and petrol remains slow, with Indian officials citing their Pakistani counterparts keeping a cautious stance. While several suggestions have been raised during the talks, including building of a pipeline directly to Lahore, the Pakistan government remains wary of issues such as security and dependability of oil imports from India. However, worsening energy shortage in Pakistan may push Pakistani authorities to push ahead with negotiations, although imports from India are unlikely to exceed supplies from Kuwait.


http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/recently-released-market-study-pakistan-power-report-q4-2012-191192.htm

Riaz Haq said...

Here's BR on solar energy for Pak villages:

... There are over 10 million households in Pakistan without electricity. These households spend at least 750 million dollars a year on kerosene for lighting. For 1.2 billion dollars, which is about worth 18 months of kerosene bill, each one of these households can get a solar energy system. The payback period is eighteen months, and if the households were to regularly pay back to the providers what they saved on kerosene, the provider would make a ton of money within two years. It's a good business, a big business, a two billion dollar business, it's just sitting there - it's simple economics," he (Carl Pope) elaborated his point further.

Carl (Pope) told BR Research that a major purpose of his visit to Pakistan was to further explore this idea of solar power provision to rural households that are off the electric grid. "People have tried similar models on smaller scale in Africa and India. In this model, three things are required: a) a bank to provide financing, b) reputable distributors and supply-chain/logistics companies that make sure that the product that is being provided (solar panels) is a good product, that it will actually work, and c) somebody willing to provide the first-loss guarantee to the bank. If you get the last two together, they can get the bank. I have met some landlords on this visit to Pakistan, I have visited a set of villages near Dera Ghazi Khan, and I have also talked to people who are not landlords, but have business interests."

Carl pointed out that the finance problem in this model - the inability of the rural households to pay for these solar installations - can be addressed when somebody is willing to bank. "Bankers are uncomfortable because these households are generally poor; and bankers are also uneasy lending to this segment because they usually don't know anything about solar power. But there is an opportunity that might exist in Pakistan.

For better or for worse, Pakistan has a large number of landlords, who know how to collect money from their tenants. If you go to a landlord, and say 'look, you have got 25,000 people in your area, wouldn't you like them to have electricity? It wouldn't cost you anything; you only have to collect repayments from your tenants who, with electricity, would become more productive, which could also raise your rents (income)'. Landlords are proud people, and if their ability to control their tenants is manoeuvred in this direction, they may take interest. To make this idea work, the landlord will have to agree to provide the bank with a first-loss guarantee," he explained further.

Carl Pope cautioned that such a model cannot be scaled through a philanthropic venture - businesses have to be involved because the idea makes business sense. "I personally think that the rural adoption of such a product would depend more on awareness of product functionality and reputation of the provider. It will take time, yes, but I don't really see any other option for these rural households. Reality is that most of these villages are never going to get wired, because they weren't anybody's priority in the first place.

On one hand, the price of wiring a village has gone up fivefold in last five years, because of the rising prices of copper and other items. In most cases, the copper wire that is strung to a village is worth more than the electricity sold to the villagers. Moreover, the power demands of cities and industries are growing faster than the supply of electrons to the grid. So there isn't extra power to give to such villages," he observed.
....


http://www.brecorder.com/brief-recordings/0/1149055/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a PakistanToday report on PEW, an economic think tank often critical of PPP-led coalition, welcoming govt steps to revive economy:

ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Thursday said recent steps taken by the government, including the ratification of the Iran pipeline agreement and handing over the Gawadar Port to a Chinese firm seemed highly promising.
These steps will go a long way in reviving the economy which is in tailspin, said PEW President Dr Murtaza Mughal.
He said that Chinese cooperation in the pipeline project would turn it into a reality in less than the expected time, which would be a great service to the country and the people who have been reeling under the energy crisis. Mughal lauded Tehran’s patience as the project had been delayed for a long time due to US pressure.
Allowing the transfer of concession agreement for Gawadar Port from the Port of Singapore Authority to the China Overseas Port Holding will attract investment, provide opportunities to the people of Balochistan and bring Islamabad and Beijing closer, he said.
He said the announcement of the three-year Strategic Trade Policy Framework, in which an export target of $95 billion had been set, and backed by steps to support the plan, would help improve confidence in the business community. The government should ensure that this trade policy does not meet the fate of the trade policy framework for 2009-12, which had failed due to want of funds, he added.
The ministry of water and power’s plan to generate 3,000MW electricity from sugarcane bagasse on a fast track basis is equally encouraging, he observed. He said all necessary amendments in existing policies should be ensured to attract investment to make this possible.
Lauding US assistance for water and power projects and optimum use of hydropower resources, Mughal said the US should stop opposing the Iran gas pipeline project otherwise an anti-US feeling will run high among the masses.


http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/02/01/city/islamabad/steps-for-economic-revival-encouraging-pew/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's an APP report on Chinese nuclear plants in Pakistan:

Two nuclear power plants, 340 MW each, are under construction at Chashma and are expected to be commissioned by 2016, with Chinese assistance.
Construction of these power plants became possible after a long-standing agreement, whereas three other nuclear power plants already commissioned in the country are performing well.
According to official sources, a major chunk of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) budget has been allocated to the two plants. PAEC envisages production of 8,800 MW by the year 2030 through nuclear power reactors, sources added.
“An amount of Rs 34.6 billion has been set aside for Chashma Nuclear Power Plants, C3 and C4. The total cost of these two projects is Rs 190 billion which will be partially funded by a Rs 136 billion Chinese loan,” said a source.
The government has so far spent Rs 62.4 billion on the mega project having a 660 MW generation capacity. With Rs 34.6 billion additional spending, the government will be able to complete almost half of the work by June 2013, an official said.
According to an official in the Ministry of Science and Technology, the government is harmonising efforts made in the energy sector by different ministries, departments and research centres by creating an Energy Council including heads of relevant organisations.
The council will be entrusted to advice on priority areas for Research and Development (R&D), management of resources and filling existing gaps.
Acquisition of technology for building nuclear power reactors through R&D and transfer of technology agreements is also in consideration, the official said.


http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/02/22/news/national/two-nuclear-power-plants-to-be-commissioned-by-2016/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's Dawn on US energy help for Pakistan:

US Ambassador Richard Olson reiterated on Tuesday the commitment of the United States to extend full help and cooperation in resolving the energy crisis faced by Pakistan.

Addressing a function here at Tarbela Dam project, along with Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Syed Raghib Abbas Shah to recognise the completion of the US funded Tarbela Dam restoration project the US ambassador said, “The United States understands that Pakistan is facing an energy crisis and we are committed to doing our part.”

The restoration of three generators at Tarbela added 128 megawatts of power to the national grid.

He said, “The work completed here at Tarbela contributes enough electricity to supply two million customers, and helps provide relief to those suffering from extensive power shortages.”

Wapda Chairman Syed Raghib Abbas Shah appreciated the support of the United States to the energy sector in Pakistan.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $16.5 million to the Pakistan Wapda to repair three power generation units and to train Tarbela’s staff to operate the upgraded equipment to increase production of electricity at Tarbela.

Relieving Pakistan’s energy crisis is a top priority for US assistance to Pakistan, said Olson.

In addition to Tarbela, the United States is also funding other high impact projects, such as the rehabilitation of the Mangla dam, and renovation of thermal plants at Jamshoro, Guddu, and Muzaffagarh, which have already added over 650 megawatts since October 2009.

The US government is also co-financing the completion of the Gomal Zam and Satpara dams which will add another 35 megawatts and irrigate more than 200,000 acres.

Finally, the US is helping to replace thousands of highly inefficient agricultural and municipal water pumps throughout the country to save additional megawatts.

These projects are expected to add 900 megawatts to the national power grid by the end of 2013, enough energy to power two million households and businesses.


http://dawn.com/2013/03/05/us-announces-financial-assistance-for-tarbela-dam-restoration/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Hydroworld report on hydroelectric projects in Pakistan:

ISLAMABAD, March 20 -- Government would complete the Neelum Jhleum Hydro project, Golen Gol and Dubair Khawar hydro projects within the stipulated time frame and resolve the issues related to any project.

This assurance was given by the Secretary Water and Power, Sikander Ahmed Rai while chairing a meeting with visiting Joint Supervisory Mission (JSM) of lead financers of three hydro power projects here today.

The consortium includes representatives from Islamic Development Bank, Saudi Fund Development, Kuwait Fund Development and Opec. The meeting was also attended by additional Secretary Ministry of Water and Power, Chairman Wapda and senior officials of Neelum Jheluim project, Golen Gol and Dubair Khawar project and ministry of Water and Power.

Secretary water and Power said that the government has also allocated the funds for the projects and financial support of the donors would help to complete the project in time. He said that the progress on three projects being reviewed and monitored regularly. Pakistan is facing energy shortage and timely completion of these projects would help to bridge the gap between demand and supply. He also thanked the delegation for visiting Pakistan to review the progress of the projects.

Earlier, the Chairman Wapda briefed the JSM that KhanKhawar hydro project of 72 MW and Allai Khawar Projects of 122 MW have been completed. While the remaining three projectsw of 1205 MW would be completed as per their schedule. Dubair Khawar project would be completed by June this year. Neelum Jhelum Hydro project of 969 MW by 2016 and Golen Gol project of 106 MW would be completed by 2015. He also informed that the Government has recently approved Rs 24 billionfor for Neelum Jhelum Project. He said that 47 % work on tunnel boring has been completed on Neelum Jhelum project.

The JSM appreciated the progress on three projects and stated that the consortium of financers would continue its support for energy projects. The JSM would also visit the sites of all the three projects to review the progress


http://www.hydroworld.com/news/2013/03/19/pakistan-power-projects-to-be-completed-on-time.html

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a PakistanToday report on new wind energy investment in Pakistan:

The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has approved $ 95 million in financing for a wind power project poised to deliver much-needed electricity to Pakistan. The credit facility will help build a 50-megawatt wind power plant in southeastern Pakistan’s Ghoro-Keti Bandar Wind Corridor designed to generate 133 gigawatt hours of emission-free electricity annually.
Using General Electric Wind turbines, the Sapphire Wind Power plant supports a mutual U.S.-Pakistan goal to diversify Pakistan’s power generation beyond reliance on high-priced fuel oil by tapping Pakistan’s vast renewable energy potential, said OPIC, which is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution.
“The provision of clean and reliable electricity is an essential building block of any economy,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth L. Littlefield.
A recent study funded by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. Agency for International Development estimates that Pakistan possesses 132,000 MW of potential installed wind capacity – virtually equal to the world’s entire installed wind capacity for 2010.


http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/03/23/news/profit/opic-approves-95m-for-wind-power-project-in-pakistan/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Daily Times story on Pak NEPRA incentives for electricity from sugarcane bagasse:

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Thursday approved Rs 10.50 per unit as upfront tariff for power generation through sugar mills by utilising sugarcane bagasse.
According to the NEPRA spokesman, this upfront tariff is approved to encourage sugar mills to generate around 1,500 megawatts (MW) on fast track basis.
At present hydel generation is costing Rs 2.50 per unit, generation through natural gas is costing around Rs 5.0 per unit, thermal generation from Rs 14 to Rs 18 per unit and electricity generated through diesel is costing Rs 23 to Rs 28 per unit in the country.
The approval of upfront tariff for sugar mills would encourage sugar mills to plan their investment in this new sector for steering out the country from power crisis faced by the nation during the last decade.
The government has plans to generate around 3,000 MW cheaper electricity through sugarcane bagasse on fast-track basis and investors would be facilitated and encouraged.
Necessary amendments would also be made in the existing co-generation and renewable energy policies to make it simplified and investor-friendly.
In a recent meeting on fast-track development of bagasse-based power generation projects it was informed that the government was utilising all the resources to end the energy crisis and the power generation from bagasse would be another step to produce electricity from indigenous resources.
Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has been taking interest in the bagasse-based power projects and time and again assured the government to provide full cooperation.
Approval of the upfront tariff was lingering on since a few years. During the last two governments, hectic efforts were made to utilise bagasse for cheaper power generation. Initially 1,500 MW would be completed on fast-track basis. The meeting had also reviewed in detail the existing co-generation and renewable energy policies and discussed various proposals to simplify it in order to get benefit at the earliest.
It has been felt necessary that amendments in the existing policies would help alleviate the power crisis in the country. It was decided that the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) would process the bagasse-based projects under renewable energy policy.
A committee was also set up to finalise the recommendations in consultation with all the stakeholders so that approval could be taken from the competent forum to start the projects.
AEDB and PSMA have already informed the government that Pakistan was the fifth largest producer of sugarcane with production of 50 million tonnes of sugarcane annually, yielding over 10 million tonnes of bagasse.
Power generation from bagasse would not only reduce the furnace oil import, but even save Rs 33 billion to Rs 49 billion of foreign exchange per annum. The country has 87 sugar mills with a capacity to generate 3,000 MW electricity from bagasse in winter season


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C05%5C24%5Cstory_24-5-2013_pg5_3

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Nation newspaper report on German financing of hydel projects in Pakistan:

A delegation of the KfW Development Bank, Germany, headed by Dr Claudia Loy called on Wapda Chairman here on Monday and discussed with him the matters relating to financing of various hydropower projects.
The KfW Development Bank is providing 97 million Euros for the construction of 122 MW-Keyal Khwar and has also committed to co-finance the 35 MW-Harpo Hydropower Project along with its French counterpart AFD by providing 20 million Euros. In addition, the KfW Development Bank has also shown interest in financing the 80 MW-Phandar Hydropower Project.
During the meeting with the KfW Development Bank’s delegation, Wapda Chairman thanked them for their support in financing a number of Wapda projects.
He expressed the hope that the cooperation between the KfW Development Bank and WAPDA would be further enhanced in the days to come. He apprised the delegation that main works of Keyal Khwar Hydropower Project will soon be initiated, as all the pre-requisites are almost finalised in this regard.
Wapda Chairman expressed the hope that KfW Development Bank will come forward for better investment opportunities in other hydropower projects and well being of the people of Pakistan.
The KfW Development Bank Division Chief, appreciating the technical expertise of WAPDA, said that WAPDA is one of the best organizations in Asia. She said that the KfW Development Bank and WAPDA have a long history of mutual cooperation, adding that the Bank would continue supporting WAPDA for construction of water and hydropower projects.
We feel Pakistan’s energy sector needs more financing from Germany, she added.


http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/business/28-May-2013/german-bank-invests-in-pakistan-energy-sector

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a World Bank news release on mapping Pakistan's renewable energy resources:

Pakistan encapsulates the renewable energy challenge faced by many developing and emerging countries. Despite abundant renewable resources – including solar, wind, hydropower and biomass – very little of this potential has been utilized. At the same time, about a third of the country’s people do not have access to electricity.

Pakistan has ambitious plans for solar and wind projects, and has developed a comprehensive policy framework for renewable energy, but projects on the ground remain few and far between.

What accounts for this gap? “One major reason is a lack of credible resource data,” says Arif Alauddin, the former CEO of Pakistan’s Alternative Energy Development Board, and now Managing Director of the National Energy Conservation Center.

While high-level solar and wind maps are widely available, these do not contain the granular data required by governments to understand the country’s full resource potential and needed by the private sector to identify specific sites for development.

To address this challenge, Pakistan and eight other countries are joining with the World Bank in a new Renewable Energy Mapping Program to carry out mapping of renewable energy resources that will for the first time produce rich, nationwide data for each country. Coordinated and financed by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), the initiative will cover mapping of solar, wind, biomass, and small hydropower potential.

“The importance of this resource mapping [for Pakistan] cannot be overstated,” says Arif Alauddin. “The country’s energy shortage is unprecedented, tariffs are going up, and petroleum imports are eating up a large share of export earnings. There is a need to shift to domestic renewable energy resources.”
----------
We expect this initiative to be highly catalytic,” said Oliver Knight, Senior Energy Specialist at ESMAP. “Resource mapping is a crucial step in providing the resource and policy certainty that commercial developers need to scale up investment in renewables. In addition, government authorities will be better informed in negotiations on specific projects, and donors will have a clearer sense of the data and capacity needs, as well as the renewable potential, of clients.”

As well as mapping, the program will support a wide variety of activities, including consolidation and validation of existing datasets, work to standardize resource assessment methodologies, and capacity development of local institutions and experts. An open data repository will be developed to facilitate free and open access to the data, and the geospatial outputs (GIS layers) will be made available via a new web portal. The outputs will also be made available to the Global Atlas for Solar and Wind that has been developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Clean Energy Ministerial.

The program is one of a number of initiatives the World Bank Group is undertaking in support of the global Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) campaign. One goal of the initative is to double to the share of renewable power in the global energy mix from 18 percent to 36 percent by 2030. According to the SE4ALL Global Tracking Framework report produced by a multi-agency team led by the World Bank and released on May 28, renewable energy (excluding biomass) made up only 1.6 percent of total final energy consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 1.8 percent in Southern Asia, as of 2010.

“The resource mapping initiative will open a floodgate of possibilities for both large and smaller investors, as well as for consumers who desperately need new energy options,” Arif Alauddin said.


http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/06/17/mapping-the-energy-revolution

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Dawn report on UNESCAP Statistical Year Book 2013:

ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: About 1.3 billion people in the world are living without electricity; two-thirds of them being in 10 countries and four of them, including Pakistan, in the Asia Pacific region, says a report of the United Nations.

According to the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific-2013 released by a UN commission on Tuesday, an estimated 60 per cent of capacity-addition efforts in future will be focused on mini-grids and off-grid connections in which renewable energy sources will play a vital role.

In the generation of electricity from renewable sources, the Asian and Pacific region led the world in 2010. But this amounted to only 15.8 per cent of the region’s total electricity, which is below the world average of 19.4 per cent.

With less than 400 kilowatt-hours per capita, the annual household electricity consumption in the region is the second lowest among the world’s regions, after Africa where it is 200kwh.

About 2.6bn people in the world and 1.8bn in the region use solid fuels for cooking. The WHO estimates that more than 1.45 million people die prematurely each year from indoor air pollution caused by burning solid fuels with insufficient ventilation.

Women’s economic empowerment

The report says that despite its economic growth, the region lags behind in economic empowerment of women. It calls for targeted policy measures to facilitate women’s economic empowerment.

Women still bear the burden of unremunerated productive work, shouldering the major share of household management and care-giving responsibilities.

The report says that in Pakistan women spend 5.5 hours a day on housework and 1.2 hours on childcare whereas men spend 2.5 hours on housework and 0.9 hours on childcare.

It also says that women are overrepresented in sectors and positions that are vulnerable, poorly paid and less secure. For instance, 42 per cent of working women/girls belonged to agriculture sector in 2012 compared with 36.0 per cent of male workers.


http://www.dawn.com/news/1060369/pakistan-among-10-countries-facing-severe-energy-crisis-un-report

http://www.unescap.org/stat/data/syb2013/ESCAP-syb2013.pdf

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a News story on US support and funding for Central Asia-South Asia (CASA) transnational grid:

WASHINGTON: The United States has committed $15 million in financing towards the Central Asia-South Asia electricity transmission project (CASA-1000) that on completion would help bring electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While announcing the funding the State Department expressed the hope that the US financial support for CASA-1000 would help leverage other donors to support the project and encourage the World Bank to present the project to its Board of Directors for final approval next year.

“We believe CASA-1000 can be a potentially transformative project, helping create a regional energy grid that connects Central and South Asia for the first time,” a statement released by the Office of the Spokesperson said.

When completed, CASA-1000 will allow Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to profit from existing, unused summer generation capacity by selling electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghanistan would doubly benefit from the project as a consumer (300 MW) and as transit country generating revenue.

“Pakistan would add 1,000MW to its national grid during the summer months when it experiences its peak demand period and have access to a reliable, clean, and cheaper energy supply.”

According to the State Department, CASA-1000 is entirely dependent on existing hydropower generation so it will not affect water-sharing agreements for other Central Asian countries. It also complements ongoing efforts by the Asian Development Bank and others to support a regional energy grid.

“These types of projects can enhance economic interdependence and support peace and stability in the region for years to come. That is why the United States has been supporting the CASA-1000 Secretariat for several years, and is now committing an equity stake in the project.”

“US support for CASA-1000 is representative of our long-term commitment to peace, stability and prosperity for Afghanistan and its neighbours. CASA-1000 is a practical example of a project that supports regional economic connectivity and our New Silk Road vision. The United States looks forward to working with the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and other development partners to support CASA-1000 and other projects which connect Central and South Asia.”


http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-27249-US-pledges-$15-million-to-bring-electricity-to-Pakistan-Afghanistan

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a PV magazine story on solar plants pipeline in Pakistan:

The country currently has 22 individual solar PV projects under different stages of development, according to Pakistan's Alternative Energy Development Board.

Pakistan is on course to add 772 MW of solar power to its national grid by 2016, according to figures released by the country's Alternative Energy Development Board (AEEDB).

There are currently 22 individual solar power projects either under construction or at various stages of development across Pakistan, with a number of these projects awaiting an agreement on a national FIT – details of which the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) finally announced in late January after months of delays.

NEPRA has now published its final FIT incentives for PV projects between 1 MW and 100 MW. In the north of Pakistan the FIT will be set at $0.18 cents per kWh for an initial ten-year period, halving after that time to just $0.09 cents per kWh for the next 15 years.

In Pakistan's southern regions, the FIT incentive comes in a little more generously, at $0.19 cents per kWh for the first ten years, but falling to below $0.09 cents per kWh thereafter.

In 2013, the AEDB recommended a FIT level of approximately $0.27 cents per kWh nationwide, but NEPRA has calculated a lower rate on the basis of Pakistan's current PV pipeline.

AEDB has also revealed that it is pursuing a number of renewable energy projects for the country’s national grid, and has pledged its backing to the solar industry and the wind industry – the latter of which has an estimated 150 MW pipeline in the offing.

For solar, AEDB is set to embark on a campaign to promote the installation of residential rooftop PV systems designed for self-consumption. Currently, Pakistan has no building or licensing restrictions on these types of installations.


Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/pipeline-of-pv-projects-in-pakistan-reaches-772-mw_100014240/

Riaz Haq said...

Here's an AFP story on a planned giant solar park in Pakistan's Cholistan desert in Punjab:

BADAIWANI WALA: For years Pakistanis have sweated and cursed through summer power cuts, but now the government plans to harness the sun's ferocious heat to help tackle the country's chronic energy crisis.

In a corner of the Cholistan desert in Punjab province, power transmission lines, water pipes and a pristine new road cross 10,000 acres of parched, sandy land.

The provincial government has spent $5 million to put in place the infrastructure as it seeks to transform the desolate area into one of the world's largest solar power parks, capable one day of generating up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

The desert park in Bahawalpur district is the latest scheme to tackle the rolling blackouts which have inflicted misery on people and strangled economic growth.

Temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius in the country's centre in June and July, sending demand for electricity soaring and leaving a shortfall of around 4,000 MW.

“In phase one, a pilot project producing 100 MW of electricity will hopefully be completed by the end of this year,” Imran Sikandar Baluch, head of the Bahawalpur district administration, told AFP.

“After completion of the first 100 MW project, the government will invite investors to invest here for the 1,000 megawatts.”

A 'river' of solar panels

Engineers and labourers are working in the desert under the scorching sun to complete the boundary wall, with authorities keen to begin generating solar electricity by November.

“If you come here after one and a half years, you will see a river of (solar) panels, residential buildings and offices -- it will be a new world,”said site engineer Muhammad Sajid, gesturing to the desert.

Besides solar, Pakistan is also trying to tap its unexploited coal reserves -- which lie in another area of the same desert, in Sindh province.

In January Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated construction on a $1.6 billion coal plant in the town of Thar, in Sindh.

Work has also begun on a pilot 660 megawatt coal-fired plant in Gadani, a small town on the Arabian Sea.

Another 600 megawatt coal plant has also been given the go-ahead in the southern city of Jamshoro.

But while coal may offer a short-term fix to the energy crisis, authorities are keen to move to cleaner electricity in the long run.

“We need energy badly and we need clean energy, this is a sustainable solution for years to come,” said Baloch.

“Pakistan is a place where you have a lot of solar potential. In Bahawalpur, with very little rain and a lot of sunshine, it makes the project feasible and more economical,” he said.

Clean energy

Baloch believes that the new solar park will make Pakistan a leader in that energy in the region. The initial pilot project is a government scheme but private investors are also taking an interest.

Raja Waqar of Islamabad-based Safe Solar Power is among them. His company plans to invest $10 million to build a 10 MW project in the new park.

“The government has allotted us land over here. Infrastructure, the transmission line and road are available here, that is why we are investing,”Waqar told AFP.

A million dollars per MW is a sizeable investment but Waqar said the company expected to reap returns on it over at least the next decade, and others were keen to get on board.

“There are up to 20 companies who are investing in this park and their projects are in the pipeline,” he said. “Some of them are working on 50 MW, some on 10 and others on 20.”But not everyone is so upbeat about the project.....


http://www.dawn.com/news/1101141/pakistan-plans-huge-desert-solar-park-to-fight-energy-crisis

Riaz Haq said...

Benoist Bazin, Head of Section, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Pakistan on Thursday inaugurated the EU-funded 'High Pressure Cogeneration for sugar sector in Pakistan (HP Cogen-Pak)' under the EU SWITCH ASIA Programme. The programme will support the local sugar sector to upgrade towards high pressure boiler technology and enable them to export electricity to the national grid.

"This programme is focusing on providing support to the sugar sector, financial sector, technology providers and the public sector in popularising High Pressure Cogeneration Technology," said Bazin during his keynote speech at the ceremony. "The programme aims at achieving this by supporting sugar mills through technology standardisation, enabling access to finance, and mobilising relevant public sector authorities.

Given the background of electricity supply constraint that Pakistan is facing these days, Bazin added that promotion of High Pressure Cogeneration would promote not only energy security of Pakistan, but also generate electricity from renewable fuels.

Highlighting the various activities, Omar Malik, Project Director of HP Cogen-Pak project informed the participants that the project was currently working with 35 sugar mills, 14 financial institutions and five technology providers. Seven bankable feasibility studies are already underway. Need assessment of financial sector is in the pipeline while capacity building of Pakistani boiler manufactures is also expected to start in December 2014.

The event was attended by representatives of Ministry of Water and Power, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Private Power Infrastructure Board, Alternative Energy Development Board, State Bank of Pakistan, Climate Change Division, Pakistani boiler manufacturers and sugar mill representatives.

http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1238159/

Riaz Haq said...

In a major development, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank (WB) has approved five projects pertaining to Pakistan.

These include International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Investment in Gul Ahmed Wind Power Limited, Tenaga Generasi Limited (wind power) and Gulpur Hydro Project, Sindh Public Sector Reform Project and Acceleration of Tarbela IV Extension Project.

Officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Division told The News that by far this is the largest number of projects approved by the Board in one month for any country.

They said the major thrust was on the reforms in the energy sector, which was in line with the Country Partnership Strategy for Pakistan approved in 2014. The World Bank Country Partnership Strategy is anchored in the government’s framework of 4Es: Energy, Economy, Extremism and Education, the four strategic pillars of Vision 2025.

Officials of the Economic Affairs Division and Water and Power Ministry said that the World Bank’s Energy portfolio in Pakistan was gradually turning into largest in the world. With CASA-1000 (Central Asia-South Asia transmission line project), Tarbela IV, IFC’s investments in subsidiary company of Three Gorges of China (CSAIL) and Tarbela V in the offing, the portfolio aims to augment the present generation capacity by more than 10,000 megawatts over a period of five to six years. A project to augment and upgrade the transmission system is also in the pipeline.

Last year, the officials said that World Bank disbursed more than US $1.6 billion to Pakistan and a Pakistan Day was observed on May 01, 2014. The Bank is aiming to disburse US $1.25 to 1.3 billion to the government by the end of the current fiscal year from its IDA concessional package.

This generous and expeditious funding by the World Bank is viewed by economic managers of the government as a sign of trust in the official economic reform agenda.However many development planners are of the view that the government will have to undertake a radical reform agenda in order to fully benefit from the World Bank assistance. Major touchstone of success of this reform in energy sector will be privatisation of power distribution and generation companies (DISCOs and GENCOs) and other governance reforms in energy sector including radical handling of intractable circular debt. It is said if the government does not speed up its reform agenda, the World Bank may slow down the assistance.

The recent visit of IFC head Jin-Yong Cai, which is private sector investment arm of World Bank, is also seen by experts as a major development vis-a-vis the World Bank’s interest in private sector development in energy sector.

During his visit, the IFC head met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and committed to helping Pakistan tackle some of its most pressing challenges from unemployment to energy shortage by catalysing new investment outside the public sector.

He said private businesses, both large and small, are the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, but they are often held back by power outages, excessive red tape, and a shortage of credit. “By tackling these issues, we can help companies unlock their potential and create the economic opportunities that Pakistanis are eager for.”

The IFC is expected to invest about $500 million annually in Pakistan in the next few years as part of a World Bank Group Country Partnership Strategy.Economists say unless Pakistan improves its business environment and addresses serious issues highlighted by the Ease of Doing Business Report of the World Bank, which has ranked Pakistan quite low due to multiple factors discouraging private business and investment, Pakistan would not be able to benefit from such assistance speedily. Almost all these factors pertain to archaic and unhelpful practices and attitudes of bureaucracy and public sector organisations.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-299755-WB-approves-five-projects-to-bring-reforms-in-energy-sector

Riaz Haq said...

From India Today:

A Chinese official has confirmed that China is involved in as many as six nuclear power projects in Pakistan and is likely to export more reactors to the country, indicating that the much debated civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries will go ahead despite concerns voiced that it is in contravention of Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) guidelines.

While China has in the past declined to confirm or share details regarding the extent of its on-going civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan, a top official of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the planning body, was quoted as saying on Saturday that Beijing has been involved in the construction of six reactors in Pakistan.

Wang Xiaotao, vice-minister of the NDRC, was quoted as saying by State media that the NDRC was keen to support further exports to Pakistan and other countries. To this end, the NDRC is drawing up new guidelines to announce supportive financial policies for exports in the nuclear sector. Railways exports would also be supported under the new guidelines, Wang said.

Announcing the guidelines at a Beijing press conference, Wang said that China "has assisted in building six nuclear reactors in Pakistan with a total installed capacity of 3.4 million kilowatts". China was also exporting nuclear technology to Argentina, with the two countries on Wednesday signing a deal for exporting heavy-water reactors.

China's recent projects with Pakistan have come under scrutiny as the NSG does not allow members to supply nuclear technology to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India had to seek a waiver from the NSG for its civilian nuclear cooperation with the US, and obtained one only after undertaking a range of commitments.

China only declared the first two reactors it had constructed for Pakistan, Chashma-1 and Chashma-2, at the time of joining the NSG, according to Indian and American officials.

In 2009, the China National Nuclear Corporation signed agreements for two new reactors, Chashma-3 and Chashma-4. The deals became a matter of controversy and were debated at the NSG, with China arguing that the reactors were "grandfathered" as part of its earlier Chashma agreement and were not new projects per se. China also argued that the deals were under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and were legitimate.

The two countries last year announced they would undertake a new project in Karachi, with Pakistani media reports saying China would provide $ 6.5 billion to finance two reactors there. At the time, Beijing declined to confirm those reports.

While the Chinese Foreign Ministry has, in the past, argued that China's cooperation with Pakistan "did not violate norms of the NSG", Beijing's main argument was that the Chashma reactors were part of an earlier deal. With China going ahead with building two new reactors in Karachi, it remains to be seen how Beijing will explain the deals' validity under NSG guidelines.



Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/china-pakistan-nuclear-projects-beijing-chashma-atomic-energy/1/417661.html

Riaz Haq said...

The National Transmission and Despatch Company Limited (NTDCL) of Pakistan signed three agreements for the output of 129.5 MW of energy from Jhimpir wind farm.

The plan calls for Tapal Wind Energy to build a 30 MW facility, Master Wind Energy to install a 49.5 MW plant and Gul Ahmed Wind Power construct an additional 50 MW wind park.

The PPAs have received the green light from NTDCL authorities and all three wind power producers will close their financing till 31 March 2015. The farm will start production by the end 2016.

NTDC, incorporated in 1998 operates and maintains twelve 500 KV and twenty nine 220 KV Grid Stations, 5077 km of 500 KV transmission line and 7359 km of 220 KV transmission line in Pakistan.

The main functions of NTDCL are categorized as central power purchasing agency, system operator, transmission network operator, contract registrar and power exchange administrator for the energy portfolio of Pakistan.

As a Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), the utility works on procurement of power from GENCOs, Hydel & IPPs on behalf of Distribution Companies (DISCOS) for delivery through 500 kV, 220 kV and 132kV Network.

Current projects undertaken by NTDCL include D. G Khan 500 kV sub -station and transmission line, New Okara 220 kV Sub-Station Transmission Line and Dispersal of Power from Jarwar IPP Jarwar – Sadiqabad 132 kV Double Circuit Transmission Line.

The Jhimpir Wind Power Plant is a wind farm located at Jhimpir in Thatta District of Sindh province in Pakistan, 120 kilometres North-East of Karachi.

The project has been developed by Zorlu Energy Pakistan at a total cost of $143 million.

Recently, Pakistan Meteorological Department has conducted a detailed Wind Power Potential Survey of Coastal Areas of Pakistan.

This study finds that Sindh coastal areas have greater wind power potential than Balochistan coastal areas. Potential areas cover 9700 sq.km in Sindh.

In Pakistan, first wind power generation plant of 50 MW was inaugurated in December 2012 and started full production in 2013. The wind power potential in Pakistan that has been identified in Sindh and Balochistan is more than 50,000 MW while Punjab has potential of producing almost 1,000 MW.

http://www.greentechlead.com/wind/ntdcl-of-pakistan-signs-3-deals-for-130-mw-wind-energy-purchase-22576

Riaz Haq said...

Half of all new #Energy world-wide last year was Green. #Solar #Wind http://www.juancole.com/2015/04/energy-world-green.html …

Prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the report says that a continuing sharp decline in technology costs – particularly in solar but also in wind – means that every dollar invested in renewable energy bought significantly more generating capacity in 2014.
In what was called “a year of eye-catching steps forward for renewable energy”, the report notes that wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-power, geothermal, small hydro and marine power contributed an estimated 9.1 percent of world electricity generation in 2014, up from 8.5 percent in 2013.
This, says the report, means that the world’s electricity systems emitted 1.3 gigatonnes of CO2 – roughly twice the emissions of the world’s airline industry – less than it would have if that 9.1 percent had been produced by the same fossil-dominated mix generating the other 90.9 percent of world power.
“Once again in 2014, renewables made up nearly half of the net power capacity added worldwide,” said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP. “These climate-friendly energy technologies are now an indispensable component of the global energy mix and their importance will only increase as markets mature, technology prices continue to fall and the need to rein in carbon emissions becomes ever more urgent.”
China saw by far the biggest renewable energy investments last year – a record 83.3 billion dollars, up 39 percent from 2013. The United States was second at 38.3 billion dollars, up seven percent on the year (although below its all-time high reached in 2011). Third came Japan at 35.7 billion dollars, 10 percent higher than in 2013 and its biggest total ever.
According to the report, a prominent feature of 2014 was the rapid expansion of renewables into new markets in developing countries, where investments jumped 36 percent to 131.3 billion dollars. China with 83.3 billion, Brazil (7.6 billion), India (7.4 billion) and South Africa (5.5 billion) were all in the top 10 investing countries, while more than one billion dollars was invested in Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, Kenya and Turkey.

Riaz Haq said...

AGP’s report sees improvement in power generation to 16,890 MW 2015 in #Pakistan since 2013 http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/?p=444609 via @ePakistanToday

The power sector in 2015 has shown significant improvement and has been able to utilise 90 per cent of its available generation capacity and recorded 16,890 MW electricity generation against 18,616 MW derated generation capacity previously.

This has been stated in the audit report submitted by the AGP to the president of Pakistan for the period 2012-13 of previous government tenure till 2014-15.

According to the report, domestic load shedding has been brought down from 8-11 hours to 6-8 hours while industrial load shedding has decreased from 8-12 hours to zero since November 2014, except during January and Ramzan.

The report said that cost minimisation and improvement in cash flow has been ensured by implementing the merit order dispatch – using economical plants first, introducing uniform load management, differentiated load management by identifying higher theft areas and brining all DISCOs collection to CPPA.

These measures have enabled the power sector to pay better and as a result the PSO has received 101 per cent of its outstanding during 2014-15 as compared to 77 per cent during 2013-14, IPPs received 102 per cent in 2014-15 as compared to 85 per cent during 2013-14 and gas companies 106 per cent in 2014-15 as compared to 104 per cent in 2013-14.

In the efforts to lower burden on national exchequer, the power sector has improved a lot. In 2012-13, 334 billion was the subsidy provided by the government accounting for 2.4 percent of GDP. Due to better fiscal management in 2013-14, the subsidy was brought down to 292 billion rupees making it 1.7 percent of the GDP. In the year 2014-15, the subsidy further decreased to 221 billion making it 0.76 percent of GDP. The ministry is further making efforts to further bring down the subsidy.

Similarly, the increase in circular debt in 2013-14 was 203 billion making it 0.7 percent of GDP while in 2014-15 it registered only 49 billion rupees increase accounting for only 0.17 percent of GDP.

For investment facilitation new polices have already been adopted, flexible and enabling security documents have been ensured and investors have been granted greater access and regular reviews of the potential power projects. These policies have been taken well and around 15,000 MW of power sector projects are now on fast tract and in different stages.

In 2013 the energy sector was faced with dual deficit dilemma – generation deficit of around 6,000 MW resulting in heavy industrial and domestic line losses and financial deficit resulting in heavy burden on public exchequer. Another problem being faced was the management deficit in terms of no load management plan resulting in unpredictable load shedding and no financial management plan resulting in burden on fiscal resources. Similarly, the national transmission system was highly risky and there were challenges for new investment in the power sector.

Riaz Haq said...

Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar on Sunday said that the government would be able to overcome the energy crisis by early 2018 by adding 10,000 megawatts more electricity to the national grid.

“Currently we are facing a shortfall of about 5,000 MW of electricity whereas energy projects of 24,000 MW are under process and some of them will start generating 10,000MW by the end of year 2017 or early 2018,” he said while addressing a ceremony organized by Old Hailians Association here.

The remaining projects of 14,000MW, he said, would start adding electricity to the system by 2020 which would help boost economic activity and industrialisation in the country.

The minister said two mega hydro power projects, Dasu and Diamir Bhasha dams, were also in progress, which would not only help overcome the energy crisis but also store water for irrigation purpose.

“Diamir Bhasha Dam will have the capacity of 1.3 trillion cubic feet water,” he added. Ishaq Dar said the government was also working on civil nuclear energy projects, which would add 1,000MW electricity to the system in next seven years. He said that before the year 2013, the country was on the verge of becoming a defaulter as the foreign exchange reserves had gone down to below $8billion and no international monetary institution was ready to lend money to it.

However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after coming to power, worked hard to bring the country out of the financial crisis, he added.

“Within a short span of two years, the country has made immense progress as the energy crisis has considerably eased, forex reserves have touched $20 billion mark, a record in the country’s history, fiscal deficit has come down from 8.8 percent to 5 percent, and inflation rate has reduced from above 10 percent to record 1.3 percent.”

Moreover, the minister said, the tax to GDP ratio had also increased from 9 percent to 11 percent and revenue growth rate also surged from 3 percent to 15 percent. Now the world renowned fiscal institutions were praising Pakistan for its amazing economic development and had rated its economy as stable, he added.

Dar said if Pakistan continued its journey on the road to progress which it had witnessed during previous two years, it would become the world’s 18th major economy in 17 years.

He said that the PML-N was strictly implementing its manifesto announced during the 2013 general election, in which it had vowed to steer the country out of four crises.

“The country was facing 4 E challenges ( Economy, Energy, Education and Extremism) at the time the PML-N government came into power, which have now been overcome due to its prudent policies,” he added.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-345147-10000MW-to-be-added-to-national-grid-by-early-2018-Dar

Riaz Haq said...

Poo-powered biogas pumps help #Pakistan farmers grow richer, greener. #renewables http://reut.rs/1OuV42D via @ReutersIndia

For farmer Mujahid Abbasi, switching the power source for his irrigation pump from diesel to biogas has brought economic and health gains.

The 43-year-old from Fateh Jhang village, some 26 miles (42 km) from Pakistan’s capital city Islamabad, has benefited from a pilot project led by the Punjab provincial government to provide biogas equipment at a subsidised rate.

Abbasi uses dung from his 30 buffalo to produce nearly 40 cubic metres of gas per day, which powers his irrigation pump for six hours and his family’s cooking stove.

The father of five says cutting out diesel has saved him around $10-$12 daily over the past 13 months.

He has used the money to plant seasonal vegetables on five additional hectares that had lain fallow for several years due to a lack of funds.

Turning a lever to start his groundwater pump, Abbasi recalls how the 20-horse power engine used to consume around 13 litres of diesel each day. But he has not bought diesel since he installed the biogas-run pump in March 2015.

“This is a brilliant saving,” he said. “This means additional income of $1,150 for me annually. It has helped improve our family’s economic well-being.”

Close to 20 other farmers in his area have followed suit and are also running their irrigation pumps on biogas, thanks to the government-backed project.

Vegetable farmer Naeem Raza Shah uses slurry left over from the biogas production process to fertilise his 19 hectares, cutting out chemical fertiliser which previously cost him around $850 per year.

“The organic fertiliser from the biogas plant is an economic blessing for me,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

SUBSIDIES FOR SMALL FARMERS

Abbasi and Raza are among nearly 17,000 beneficiaries of the $67 million programme that aims to convert 100,000 irrigation pumps from diesel to biogas by the end of 2017 across Punjab province.

According to Punjab Agriculture Minister Farrukh Javed, the initiative aims to reduce dependence on diesel and boost farm productivity by improving access to irrigation water and promoting the use of bio-fertiliser, while fighting groundwater contamination from chemical inputs.

The government is paying half of the conversion cost for diesel-powered pumps, which ranges from 200,000 to 400,000 rupees ($1,912-$3,824) per tube well.

The subsidies are weighted in favour of farmers with less land, who usually have lower incomes and would struggle to afford the pump conversion without additional financial support.

The programme is expected to avoid the use of 288 million litres of diesel, worth 30 billion rupees each year.

It will help cut the diesel import bill and boost farmers’ profits, while reducing environmental pollution. It is expected to shrink the sector’s carbon footprint by more than 5 percent.

Agriculture accounts for nearly 39 percent of Pakistan’s annual carbon emissions, which are increasing at a rate of 6 percent per year.

According to a 2010 census by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, farmers operate 1.1 million irrigation pumps across the country to exploit groundwater, more than 70 percent of them in Punjab. Of these, 900,000 are run on diesel.

Meanwhile, in Punjab alone, there are 32 million cattle and buffalo, which produce 117 million tonnes of dung annually - enough to produce around 6 billion cubic metres of biogas.

“The government should encourage the private sector to join its efforts to capitalise on the untapped opportunity the biogas sector offers in view of the millions of tonnes of unused dung from 180 million head of cattle across the country,” said Arif Allauddin, former head of Pakistan's Alternative Energy Development Board.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan to soon switch on 350 MW of #wind #energy farms - report - SeeNews #Renewables https://shar.es/1E1Ir0

The Pakistani province of Sindh is expected to soon become home to 350 MW of operational wind power capacity.

An official of the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) told the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) on Sunday that seven 50-MW wind parks along the coastline should be completed by next month. The projects include developments by Yunus Energy, Metro Power Company, Gul Wind Energy and Master Energy.

Meanwhile, Sachal Energy Development Pvt Ltd (SEDL) is building another 50-MW wind farm in Jhimpir, Sindh. It is expected to be finalised by mid-2017, the official has added.

All of the projects are financed by the private sector, he said as quoted by the news agency.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan’s installed PV capacity will likely increase from around 1.3 GW at the end of 2019 to 12.8 GW by 2030 and 26.9 GW by 2047, according to the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan – IGCEP 2047, which was recently published by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).


https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/05/01/pakistani-regulator-expects-solar-capacity-to-hit-27-gw-by-2047/

NERPA's base-case scenario predicts that overall generation capacity will grow from 33,000 MW in 2020 to around 168,200 MW in 2047. But coal and hydropower will still account for 36% and 42% of total capacity, at 32,948 MW and 55,836 MW, respectively.

By 2030, the share of wind and solar in the overall energy mix will likely increase from about 3% in 2020 to 23%. “Beyond 2030, share of solar and wind plants decreases due to the increase in the number of new local coal-based plants having greater capacity factors,” NERPA said.

However, it also acknowledges that wind and solar are becoming the cheapest forms of new electricity generation. “They are set to replace the conventional fuels to great extent for power generation to meet the future demand growth,” NEPRA said. “The cheaper and widely accessible renewable energy has the potential to substantially decrease the reliability of power sector on expensive imported fuels.”

The organization also predicts that solar power plant capex in Pakistan will drop from $530/kW in 2020 to $371/kW by 2030. A global outlook report that was recently published by SolarPower Europe also predicted that Pakistan will deploy close to 5 GW of solar capacity by 2022.

Riaz Haq said...

Unilever Pakistan announces its partnership with K-Solar


https://www.nation.com.pk/18-May-2023/unilever-pakistan-announces-its-partnership-with-k-solar


LAHORE-Unilever Pakistan has announced its partnership with K-Solar, a subsidiary of KE, to transition its operations to solar energy in Rahim Yar Khan and Karachi. This initiative represents a significant step towards achieving Unilever’s ambitious sustainability goals, including net zero emissions in its operations by 2039. Simultaneously, the firm will shed close to PKR 84 million a year in energy costs, facilitating the local economy by considerably reducing the strain on the national grid collectively generating approx. 2.3 million Kwh through renewable sources.

Unilever Pakistan’s Solar Captive Power Plant Phase 2 installation demonstrates their dedication to renewable energy solutions, leading to significant savings and CO2 reductions. At Futehally Chemicals Limited (FCL), the factory that manufactures Surf Excel for Unilever, the 362 kW system will save 496,035 kWh annually, reducing costs by approximately 18 million PKR and CO2 emissions by 233 metric tons. The 1000 kW installation at Rahim Yar Khan Factory will save 1,430,886 kWh, saving approximately 53 million PKR and a CO2 reduction of 662 metric tons per year. The 250 kW system at Rahim Yar Khan Estate will save 357,721 kWh, resulting in cost savings of 13 million PKR and a CO2 reduction of 165 metric tons annually. Unilever Pakistan’s investment in these projects reinforces their commitment to sustainability.

While Unilever’s own factories, offices, research labs, data centers, warehouses, and distribution centers account for only 2% of its total greenhouse gas footprint, the company acknowledges the significance of these emissions and is committed to eliminating them entirely. Abdul Hannan Ahmed Khan, Head of Supply Chain at Unilever Pakistan, expressed his enthusiasm for this collaboration, stating, “Unilever Pakistan is deeply committed to sustainable practices and minimizing our impact on the environment. This solar project is a testament to our dedication to combat climate change and create a brighter, cleaner future. By investing in renewable energy, we are not only reducing our carbon emissions but also driving positive change in the communities we operate in.”

Hashim Raza, CEO of K-Solar, emphasized the significance of joint efforts in realizing a sustainable energy future. He stated, “We are thrilled to partner with Unilever Pakistan on this journey. By combining Unilever’s leadership in sustainability and K-Solar’s expertise in renewable energy solutions, we are confident that we can make a substantial impact in reducing carbon emissions and promoting the use of clean energy sources.”


Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan among 26 countries which added over 1,000 MW of solar electricity in 2022

https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/06/13/spain-germany-poland-which-european-countries-added-the-most-solar-power-in-2022

Where are the major solar countries?
More countries than ever are real “solar contenders”, the report shows.

In 2022, the number of major solar countries - defined as those installing at least 1 GW annually - grew from 12 to 26. By 2025, the report predicts that more than 50 countries will be installing more than 1 GW of solar per year.

European countries make up 12 of the solar heavyweights, led by Spain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Italy.

Poland’s solar development has flown past expectations. It’s mostly due to a surge in small rooftop ‘prosumer’ systems that enable homeowners to be rewarded for producing as well as consuming energy.

Ranked by the amount of extra solar they installed last year, here is the full list of the 26 major solar powers:

1. China
2. US
3. India
4. Brazil
5. Spain
6. Germany
7. Japan
8. Poland
9. The Netherlands
10. Australia
11. South Korea
12. Italy
13. France
14. Taiwan
15. Chile
16. Denmark
17. Turkiye
18. Greece
19. South Africa
20. Austria
21. UK
22. Mexico
23. Hungary
24. Pakistan
25. Israel
26. Switzerland

Riaz Haq said...

Dasu Hydropower Project: Stage 1 of concrete Starter Dam completed


https://www.nation.com.pk/22-Jun-2023/dasu-hydropower-project-stage-1-of-concrete-starter-dam-completed

In a major development towards implementation of Dasu Hydropower Project, Stage 1 of the concrete Starter Dam has been completed upstream of Main Dam site.

As per the design, the Starter Dam for Dasu Hydropower Project is to be completed in two stages; Stage 1 up to elevation of 785 meters while Stage 2 up to elevation of 798 meters above mean sea level, said a spokesperson WAPDA here. The Stage 1 of the concrete Starter Dam was completed in June this year before the high flow season – a major landmark which the project team successfully achieved, the spokesperson said.

As the high flow season has started, River Indus is flowing through the two diversion tunnels completed earlier this year, while some of the river water is overtopping the concrete Starter Dam as designed.

After the high flow season in October this year, the construction of the Starter Dam’s Stage 2 will be carried out. The Stage 2 is scheduled for completion during the coming low flow season. The project is being constructed across the River Indus, upstream of Dasu Town in Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The 4,320-MW-Dasu Hydropower Project is planned to be completed in two stages. At present, WAPDA is constructing its stage-I with installed generation capacity of 2,160-MW and annual energy generation of 12 billion units. Stage-I of the project is likely to start electricity generation in 2026. The 2,160-MW stage-II, when implemented, will also provide 9 billion units to the national grid. On completion of the both stages, Dasu will become the project with highest annual energy generation in Pakistan i.e. 21 billion units per annum on the average. The project will commence by end 2026. It is worth mentioning here that in February this year, Dasu Hydropower Project crossed a major milestone as the River Indus was successfully diverted following completion of a 1.33-kilometre long diversion tunnel.


Following the completion of one of the two diversion tunnels, the River Indus was successfully diverted to the completed tunnel. Instead of its natural course, the River Indus is now flowing through a 1.33-kilometer long diversion tunnel with 20-metre width and 23-metre height. Consequently, construction activities have been initiated on the starter dam, leading towards construction of the main dam of Dasu Hydropower Project.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Sees Solar Boom as Chinese Imports Surge, BNEF Says – BNN Bloomberg


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-09/pakistan-sees-solar-boom-as-chinese-imports-surge-bnef-says/


(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s market for solar power is booming, propelled by a surge in imports from China, according to BloombergNEF.The country imported some 13 gigawatts of solar modules in the first six months of the year, making it the third-largest destination for Chinese exporters, according to a report by BNEF analyst Jenny Chase. Pakistan’s installed capacity to generate power is just 50 gigawatts. China is the world’s biggest producer of solar equipment.Solar is gaining traction in the South Asian nation following hikes in power prices over the past few years, with the latest increase in July triggering widespread protests. Higher rates have seen grid electricity consumption drop to the lowest in four years as many people switch to independent solar. “Pakistan’s market has the potential to continue to be very large,” said Chase. “If solar is solving the market’s power problems, there is no reason to expect a crash any time soon.”BNEF expects that the country will add between 10 gigawatts and 15 gigawatts of solar this year, mostly on homes and factories, making Pakistan the sixth-largest market in the world. Given the surge in imports, that figure could end up being far higher — or growth could stall if the grid situation improves, prices fall, or the market of middle-class people who can afford solar panels on their roofs saturates, according to the report.
There are other complications in accurately assessing the market and its prospects, said Chase. Those include wide discrepancies between official data on installations and imports, as well as claims last year that solar imports were used in money laundering schemes.