Jhimpir wind power to start operation by Nov-end

Karachi: The country's first 50 MW wind power farm, which is being established by Zorlu Energi Pakistan (ZEPL) a Turkish power plant construction firm at Jhimpir, will start operation by the end of November this year.

The farm will generate 6 MW electricity in the first phase, while the overall cost of the project is estimated at $110 million.

Soon after the completion of the first phase, work on the second phase will be undertaken and overall 50 MW electricity will be generated, said Yagaur Ozdenir, representative of ZEPL and Osman Ipek, MD of Ipek Energy during a press briefing at Jhimpir.

Irfan Afzal Mirza, DG Technical of Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) and Syed Mumtaz Hassan, site manager of ZEPL were also present on the occasion.

At present, five turbines are being installed at the site, with each having production capacity of 1.2 MW electricity. In the second phase, 29 more such turbines will be erected to achieve a 50 MW electricity generation mark. They said that the energy generation will depend on wind speed at the site.

An average wind speed recorded at Jhimpir is 7.2 meter per second, which is sufficient for windmills to generate power. They further said that the soaring prices of turbines are likely to increase the overall cost of the project. The firm has planned to go for generation of 300 MW electricity in Pakistan, mainly installing such windmills.

For installing the turbines, a team of experts from Portugal will arrive on October 22 and hopefully the task will be achieved by the end of November, they hoped, saying that a little delay occurred because the experts were reluctant to visit Pakistan for security reasons.

Earlier, talking to newsmen after the conference on alternative energy held at a local hotel, Chief Executive (CE) of Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), Arif Alauddin said that the project will help provide 6,900 homes with electricity in the jurisdiction of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) soon after its inauguration.

He pointed out that Pakistan is providing maximum incentives to those firms which are interested to invest in the power generation projects. He said that from the next year, collection of the wind speed data of the coastal belt will be initiated.

He said wind turbine of a small size will also be installed in Karachi's residential areas to cut the power outages significantly. He pointed out that a policy is also being formulated for the purchase of electricity from individuals.