Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET) on Monday completed electrification of 1,560 houses and 9 coastal guard check posts by wind energy in Sindh and Balochistan. Wind energy is now a valid and practical option for many countries and will start vital role in the overall energy supply portfolio within the current decade.
A scientific assessment shows that wind energy is four-times bigger than the world's entire consumption. Electricity power generating from wind has started measuring contribution to the overall power requirements of some countries.
Official sources in PCRET told APP that coal and gas-based and hydropower are the traditional energy sources and it is estimated that these fossil fuels are likely to reach their maximum potential by 2020, and their prices will become higher than renewable energy sources.
According to one finding, only wind energy alone will provide 10 percent of world electricity requirements by 2020. It will create millions of jobs and will reduce global carbon dioxide emission by more than 10 billion tons. According to PCRET Deputy Director Sarfraz Khattak, the southern and south-western parts of Pakistan bordering on the Arabian Sea, from Rann of Cutch in the east to the international boundary with Iran in the west, extending over that to Hyderabad, Thatta, Khuzdar, Lasbella and Makran districts are the areas which have abundance of wind energy.
In rough terms, it is estimated that at least 5 percent of current power production, ie around 650 mw can be met from wind in these areas in near future. Sarfraz said the vast potential of the renewable energy sources has been acknowledged, and efforts are being made to acquire these technologies at an accelerated pace.
PCRET has procured from China 14 small wind turbines of 300 to 500 watts capacity each and installed in the coastal areas of Balochistan and Sindh for evaluation of their performance. Besides this, under the project of 'Electrification of Remote Coastal Villages using Wind Energy', 1600 houses were electrified by installing 155 micro-wind generators.
Under the Project, wind turbines of 0.5, 1.0, 3.2, 5.0 6.0 and 10 kw were imported from China, USA, Spain, Germany and Australia. They have been installed in the coastal belt of Arabian Sea in Sindh and Balochistan. Talking about advantages of wind power, Sarfraz said that wind turbine produces energy without pollution and no fuel is required for power generation, except wind, thus no fuel cost and no price risk are involved.