Every bit of energy counts today, especially for a country where the power crisis seems interminable. While the focus should remain with indigenous hydrocarbons and low cost conventional natural resources, renewable resources can act as small padding in the bigger picture. And with huge potential for Pakistan, as marketed in studies and seminar, renewable resources can be the helping hand.
Some recent events might indicate that the move towards renewable resources might have picked up a bit. The government has recently extended application of upfront tariff for new bagasse-fired cogeneration power project to May 2015. Last year it determined the upfront tariffs for bagasse-fired cogeneration power projects of Rs11.7396 per unit for the first ten years and Rs7.9147 per unit for the next 20 years period; JDW Group has taken the pioneering step and has commissioned its first high pressure bagasse-based cogeneration power plant of 26.6MW in Sadiqabad, Punjab, with another in Ghotki, Sindh ready to begin production in July 2014.
The estimated potential for bagasse-based power generation, which comes directly from sugar industry is between 2,000-2,500MW, and the energy produced is cleaner.
Also, the government has just approved the upfront tariff for a 10MW solar power plant in Cholistan. This comes in line with the governments call for proposals for 50MW solar power projects from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) besides the 100MW solar park in Bahawalpur.
Solar irradiance, a measure of the power per unit area on the earths surface produced by the sunlight, is around 5.5KWh/sqm in Pakistan according to Nepra, which is also reflective of good potential. However, the World Bank expert, Richard Spencer warns that solar energy is expensive; some 25 percent of the German end use electricity tariff-which is considerably higher than the tariffs in Pakistan-is to support solar and other renewable energy sources in the country.
Renewable resources like solar and biomass do have a role to play in the energy mix especially for distributed generation where it can help reach people who are not close to the grid. However, there have been significant strides made by various countries to contribute renewable energy to the national grid. The one made by JDW Group is a similar one. Answering BR Researchs query on a social media discussion on energy sector of Pakistan, Richard Spencer, a World Bank expert highlighted that apart from the off-grid opportunities renewable resources offer, modern technology now exists that makes it possible to insert small amounts of distributed generation into the grid including that from solar panels.
Though the efforts seem to be taking direction, the renewable resources would have started contributing a bit more towards domestic energy had the thinking heads been more proactive and serious in resolving the crisis in a diverse way. Spencer points out that the potential share of renewable resources in Pakistans energy could be about ten percent excluding the hydro generation if regulations and policies right.
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