Ministry of Water and Power would electrify around 100 villages through solar energy during this year as part of its programme to ensure light in every village of the country. Electrification through Renewable Energy Technologies in remote and off-grid villages of country is the prime focus of the government which has initiated projects not only to overcome power shortage but also to electrify the remotest parts, said an official at the Ministry.
The official said a project has already been approved to electrify 400 remote villages of Sindh and Balochistan through solar energy. Around 49 villages (3000 households) have been electrified in district Tharparker using solar energy through government own funds.
The funds for remaining work in Sindh and the projects in Balochistan are being negotiated with the donors and are expected to be initiated during this year. Moreover, 100 Solar Home Systems in three villages of district Dera Bugti, 119 Solar Home Systems in 10 villages of Deh Tiko Baran district Jamshoro, Sindh and 200 Solar Home Systems in 16 Villages of district Khuzdar, Balochistan are also being installed through which thousands of people would be facilitated.
The official said in view of the electricity crises in the country the government has given a serious thought to both short and long-term measures. Public sector hydro plants with generation capacity of 347 MW will be added to the system at a cost of US $500 million and 1,700 MW of high efficiency public sector thermal generation would start generation between end 2010 and upto 2012. The outlay for these projects is estimated as US $1.5 billion.
The official further informed that Wapda has been assigned construction of 32 small and medium dams in four provinces and Fata. The plan will be implemented in two phases as in first phase (2009-2013) 12 dams and in second phase 20 dams will be constructed during the period 2010-2014.
A dam across Sirran River is also included in second phase of the plan, the official said and added the engineering study of Sirran Dam in district Mansehra (NWFP) on Sirran River will be initiated during this year. When asked whether there is any proposal to get 1100 Megawatt electricity from Iran to control power crisis, the official said two possible projects of electricity imports are being processed.
Giving details, the official said import of 100 MW power from Iran for Gwadar which includes construction of a 220 KV Grid Station at Gwadar and 75 km associated 220 KV double circuit Transmission Line from Pak-Iran Border to Gwadar. The project is intended to be financed by Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) for which negotiation with the Bank is in progress.
The Project is expected to be completed by year 2011. The other project is import of 1000 MW power from Iran for the National Grid. The final report along with the detailed financial analysis based on techno-economic studies and the implementation plan for the project will be submitted by the consultants soon. Further action could be taken depending upon the outcome of the feasibility study and arrangement for the financing of project.
The project may take 4-5 years from commencement of the project implementation activities. This is envisaged to take care of a substantial level of demand of Balochistan and the South-East of Pakistan. Moreover, construction work on new dams is expected to be started during the next two years, which included Diamer Basha Dam, Kurm Tangi Dam Project and Munda Dam.
Giving province wise names of the small and medium dam projects where construction work is expected to be started during next two years, the official said in Balochistan they are Hingol Dam, Naulong Dam, Winder Dam, Garuk Dam and Pelar Dam. In Sindh they are Nai Gaj Dam, Darwat Dam and Sita Dam, in NWFP Bara Dam and Daraban Zam Dam and in Punjab they are Ghabir Dam and Papin Dam.
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