Sindh For Consensus On Alternative Renewable Energy Policy
Islamabad: Sindh has alleged that the federal government has yet to remove the reservations of the provinces regarding the Alternative Renewable Energy policy and said that consensus is a pre-requisite for the policy implementation.
Federal Minister for power Omar Ayub has assured that he will be visiting Sindh to remove the reservations of the province regarding ARE policy and develop consensus, Minister for Energy Imtiaz Shaikh while addressing Pakistan Energy Reform Summit 2020 here.
He said that Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has shown reservations regarding the Renewable energy policy which have not been addressed so far. “We have raised the issue to the Council of Common Interest (CCI), he added.
Imtiaz Shaikh said that “We are not against renewable energy policy and wants its implementation but we must be taken on board,” He renewed the province demand that for the better management of energy sector federal government should give representation to all the stake holders in the regulatory bodies.”
The provinces should be included in all the decision and should be provided representation in Oil & Gas regulatory Authority (Ogra) and all the other regulatory bodies,” he said.
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Minister for Energy Imtiaz Shaikh further said that as per the government claim there is surplus electricity in the country but Sindh is facing severe load shedding. Similarly Sindh is producing 67 percent of gas but the province is facing gas shortage, he said. The industries have been closed down due to gas shortage while transporters are crying, the provincial energy minister maintained.
He said that Sindh has solution of all the energy crises of Pakistan, as the province has the both the conventional and unconventional sources of energy. “We have natural gas, coal, Pakistan’s largest wind corridor and more than 12 hours sunshine for solar generation,” he added. He said that for the supply throughout Pakistan they are working on Railway lines.
They are working on detailed feasibility study and work on the project will be started soon. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alternative Energy Development Board(AEDB), Rana Abdul Jabbar, while addressing the summit said that Pakistan has a vast renewable energy generation potential which will be explored.
He said that 2006 MW electricity can be generated from Bagasse and Rice waste. Similarly the country is located in best solar zone and has an enormous wind potential, he added. He said that currently 1233 mw electricity is generated by 14 wind projects, 430 mw from 5 solar projects and 259 mw from 8 bagasse projects.
Regarding future projects, he informed that the process of the competitive bidding for 104 projects of renewable energy with the cumulative generation capacity of 6547 MW will be starting soon.