Peter Rae is the elected President of World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), the Hon. Chairman of the International Renewable Energy Alliance (REN Alliance) and an Honorary Life Member of the International Hydropower Association. As a lawyer, he previously served as president of the Law Society of Tasmania. He is a former senator in the Australian Parliament 1968-86, where he was a shadow minister for six years and Chairman of a Senate Committee reviewing company and securities law, and the operation of the stock exchanges. He also served as a Minister in the Tasmanian Government.
Peter Rae has been a board member of the WWEA since 2003, was a member of the International Solar Energy Society’s (ISES) board for six years, and has been a member of the Energy Globe Foundation board and International Jury for eight years. As a founding member of the Renewable Energy Network (REN 21), he was a vice chairman for five years and is still on the Steering Committee representing the REN Alliance. He is also a member of the International Scientific Committee of ECOS.
During his long career he has received many awards, including the 2009 Renewable Energy Generators Australia (REGA) Award for services to the renewable industry, and was also made the 2005 Alumni of the Year by the University of Tasmania for achievement in the fields of renewable energy and education. In 1999, for services to business and industry, he was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO).
BR Research recently sat down with Peter Rae in Islamabad and talked about issues related to wind energy development in Pakistan. Selected excerpts are produced below.
BR Research: WWEA is a global body with years of institutional memory. How can it help Pakistan in the field of wind energy development?
Peter Rae: The wind energy potential in Pakistan is substantial. Unlike other countries where you can develop wind energy on one end or the other, the advantage Pakistan has is that its wind potential is varied in locations across the country. There are wind-corridors present in areas besides the Southern parts of the country.
WWEA currently has representation in Pakistan, as we do in many other countries. We are planning to open a permanent, full office of WWEA in Pakistan, which will be the first such office outside the WWEA head office in Bonn, Germany. We feel there WWEA can help Pakistan gain a high renewable share in its energy mix. Through some form of organisation, we are looking to provide education and training to people in renewable energy, particularly wind energy. There is a need for public sector education in this field.
BRR: Renewable doesn’t rhyme with reliable. What’s your take?
PR: There is indeed variability in solar and wind energy, therefore it is essential to integrate them with proper back-up systems. That system can be produced in a variety of ways. One of them is association with the pumped hydro, so that during the time of renewable generation, you can store some energy for pumping back up so that you can have hydro then generating during the periods when variable renewable are not able to produce. Battery systems of various sorts exist.
BRR: Pakistan’s share of renewable energy is only five percent of its overall energy mix. However, most experts believe it can be taken to 25 percent, at least. What is the main constraint there?
PR: Based on what I have seen and heard in Pakistan, I think it is the political will. That is common across many countries. This field is relatively new, compared to fossil fuels. There has not been awareness of the importance of developing renewable energy, particularly wind energy. Acceptance is the first thing. Then you can attract the investors and encourage the developers through renewable energy policies.
Problem in Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments is the lack of enthusiasm. Our task is to start enthusing the stakeholders through information and education. Later this year in November, WWEA is organizing an annual conference in Karachi, a continuation of its 17-year tradition. It is an opportunity for us to answer the questions related to wind energy and bring the solutions in front of the national and provincial government.
At the conference, we will bring together people who are developing various ideas and present technical papers that push the knowledge further. This conference will leave a mark of increased appreciation of what renewable energy can do. Hopefully, after the new government is settled down, it will take interest in participating at the conference and benefiting from the ideas.
BRR: The Pakistani government uses a base-load argument for discouraging the increase of renewable energy. However countries like Denmark have proved that the major proportion of energy requirement can be supplied through renewable energy. What is your view on the matter?
PR: I am encouraged by work that has been done by a team at Finnish university which spent two years researching and developing plans for how you can operate 100 percent renewable. We have an organisation, which has looked at various examples of how 100 percent renewable is being supplied, that is promoting the idea. That’s one way of responding to the base-load argument.
The other way to respond is by getting recognition that back-up is an essential part of the overall system. There are all sorts of battery systems which can operate. It’s a matter of cost whether they can compete. The price of renewable has now gone down so far that you can add a battery system to it and still make it competitive, even without taking into account the environmental damage that is being done by conventional energy sources.
There are so many places in the world that are supplying up to 40, 50, and 60 percent of renewable energy to the grid. There are villages and cities that are operating without any base load. What we need people to understand is that base-load and back-up are the same thing, and that back-up can be provided economically by utilizing whatever is the most suitable renewable source associated with the predominant technology in that particular area.
BRR: Please talk a little bit about the cost of deployment of wind energy solutions.
PR: Overall cost, over 25 years of a 50-MW project, is about $70-80 million. The cost of wind energy development is coming down all over the world. There is a need to look at the cost of and operation of the back-up system and how does it fit in with the generation you are getting out of the variable renewable. That’s where the tariff structure needs to have a relationship.
In Pakistan, wind is now a power-purchase-agreement away from getting grid-parity with fossil-fuel-based projects like coal and LNG. The current benchmark tariff for wind is 6.73 US cents per kilowatt hour, which is lower than the tariff that has been awarded to coal and LNG projects recently. And if the bidding happens on that benchmark tariff, the cost is going to reduce further.
BRR: Can a hybrid wind-solar power plant solution be employed to increase capacity utilization further? Are any such models being used successfully in any other parts in the world?
PR: Hybrid is going to be a fundamental part of the whole of the renewable energy system. There are already interesting applications of that taking place. We have got a variety of hybrid systems being looked at. There are so many more opportunities to create clean and sustainable energy that I am confident that hybridization will lead to 100 percent renewable energy.
A new organisation – which WWEA is involved with, called the International Windship Association – is looking at ways to promote wind propulsion solutions for commercial shipping. The idea is to reduce the cost and pollution created by commercial shipping that uses fossil fuels. Shipping emissions are a significant contribution to overall global warming.
Hybrid solutions can be good for Pakistan. For instance, the Jhimpir and Gharo wind corridors also hold potential for solar. They are among the ideal locations to develop wind and solar at the same place.
BRR: Is it possible to bring top-notch wind turbine manufacturers to come and set up production facilities in Pakistan? India has plenty now, having started off initially with Suzlon manufacturing in India.
PR: That will depend on whether the manufacturers are satisfied with the government’s commitment to develop wind energy. Nobody will invest without reasonable guarantees that the governments are not going to adversely affect their market later on.
If we are successful in getting the government to focus on wind energy development, I don’t see a reason why investors won’t seek out this particular market. Pakistan can take the lead in assembly, as manufacturing the component parts will take many years to specialize.
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