Pakistan will import 2,600 megawatts of electricity from Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and India in a bid to overcome power shortages, Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar told the National Assembly on Friday. Giving the break-up in this regard, the Minister told the lower house of parliament that the government would import 1,000MW from Iran, 1,000MW from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and 500MW from India. He said that negotiations on tariffs were under way.
Pakistan is already importing electricity from Iran in the Makran Division, including Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Mand and adjoining areas. The imported electricity made Makran division free of load-shedding. The supply had been increased from 35MW to 70MW. Answering another question, the Minister said that Wapda had launched no solar power project. However, he said that solar energy was cheaper than the electricity produced via diesel-run generators.
He said that Ministry of Water and Power, in consultation with the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), recommended replacing diesel generators with solar panels during day time and for other off grid applications. He said that currently, there were three factories assembling solar panels in the country, including Akhtar Solar, Islamabad, PV Silicon Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, Raiwand Road, Bhubtian, Lahore, Sara Solar (Pvt) Ltd, Industrial Area, Karachi.
Answering another question about the construction of Kalabagh dam, the Minister said that the dam could yield a direct annual benefit of Rs 60 billion through irrigation, power generation and flood alleviation. He said that indirectly, it would boost industrial and food production, besides providing additional employment opportunities.
He said that Kalabagh dam would generate an average of 11,400 million KWh annually. He said that average power benefits were estimated at Rs 46 billion per annum. He said that the dam could have saved the country as much as $43 billion in the 2010 floods. He said that after completion, Kalabagh dam would add 3,600MW electricity to the national grid.
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