Govt. can cancel land lease wind power projects which failed to show progress in a given time, Askari Taqvi
KARACHI – Sindh Minister for Environment and Alternate Energy Askari Taqvi said Tuesday that the government can cancel land lease of those wind power projects which failed to show progress in a given time. He was speaking at the inauguration of 2nd international conference on power generation POWERGEN 2008, organized by Energy Update magazine at a local hotel.
He said that Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan has informed him during a recent briefing on wind power at Governor House that land of those projects will be given to other interested wind mills. The minister said that Sindh Governor has expressed his disappointment over the delay in the implementation of wind power projects who had been given land on coastal belt.
Taqvi said the Governor has asked him to submit a report in ten days about the progress of wind mill projects. He pointed out that more than two dozen wind power projects have been granted land to generate 1000 MW of electricity but only one investor Zorlu Energy belonging to Turkey has started work at the site. He noted that lack of will on the part of wind mill investors was the major reason for delay in the implementation of power projects.
Syed Asad Ali Shah, member of the Thar Coal Energy Board, said that Thar coal deposits were not only a vital indigenous resource, but also had the capability to solve Pakistan’s economic problems. He advocated that in future energy should entirely be based on hydel and coal powers.
“Since the root-cause of Pakistan’s economic crisis is foreign currency shortage/ external account deficits due to a flawed energy policy, Pakistan,” he said, “needs to work on an export enhancement and import substitution strategy by ensuring an enhanced use of indigenous resources in everything.” Arguing the case for making the maximum and quick use of the Thar coal to turn around Pakistan, Mr Shah disagreed with the argument against the quality of the deposits, and said the World Bank and other international donors had shown keen interest in them.
Earlier, chief executive of AEDB Arif Alauddin in his keynote address said that wind hydel power projects were costing 7 to 8 cents per kilowatts whereas thermal power projects touch 38 to 40 cents per kilowatts. Ibrahim Saeed of Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) pointed out that 56 projects worth $ 14 billion to produce 15,000 MW were in the pipeline. He said Thar coal was sufficient to produce 100,000 MW of power for several decades. He said that western countries were producing electricity with lesser quality coal than Thar lignite.
Chairman of Associate Group and Guest of Honor Iqbal Z Ahmed suggested to create a dedicated fund of $ 300 to 500 million to encourage alternate energy projects over thermal energy. He said government should give a deal to new coal power energy projects so that they could not refuse the offer. He said that three power project of his group will start producing more than 500 MW electricity by June next year.
Earlier, chairman National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) and former chairman PPMA Dr Qaiser Waheed in his welcome address highlighted the importance of energy conference while managing editor Energy Update Naeem Qureshi presented a vote of thanks.
During technical sessions, Member Thar Coal Energy Board Asad Ali Shah, vice chancellor Hamdard University Dr Naseem Ahmed, consultant and chairman Pakistan Academy of management Science Dr Sajid Husain, Ibrahim Saeed Director Private Power Infrastructure Board, Aqeel Hussain Alternative Energy Development Board, Prof. Amir Haider, Mian Sohail, Kazi Kulkadar Siddiqui, Saleem Qureshi and Gul Mohammad Lot Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh also spoke during various technical sessions.
