'EADB to meet 10 percent power needs by 2015'

The Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has planned to generate almost 10 percent share in the country's electrical power requirements through alternative sources by 2015. This was stated by Air Marshal Shahid Hamid (Retd), Chairman, AEDB, at a seminar on 'Indigenous Development of Innovative Technologies in the field of Renewable Energy', organised by AEDB here on Monday.
Besides local participants from different organisations, energy experts from India, Nepal, Canada and Japan attended the two-day seminar and presented their papers highlighting prospects and opportunities for developing renewable energy sources.
The EADB Chairman said that the Board has been given the task to achieve 10 percent share in the country's electrical power generation by 2015 through alternative sources, and added that once the target was achieved it would have a visible impact on the energy sector.
He said that the government was well aware that renewable energy could play a vital role in the economic development, for which it was imperative to take initiatives to generate renewable energy for sustainable development.
He said that the government was committed to provide electricity to each and everyone in the country by 2007, and added that the target could be achieved with effective and efficient contribution by renewable energy sector.
He said that the government has worked out 'Energy Security Plan' for increasing power generation capacity in the next 25 years, from current installed capacity of 19,540 mw to 162,590 mw.
He said he expected that in the next 25 years, EADB would be able to generate 9,520 mw power. The EADB chairman said Pakistan would learn from the experience of India and exploit the technologies of Germany, Japan and Canada in the renewable energy field.
Ejaz Rahim, Secretary, Cabinet Division, said that renewable energy was the starting point of the much-needed synergy in the development process embracing the economy. He said that to achieve the sustainable level of GDP growth, there was need for assured, reliable and resilient energy systems.