ZEPL builds first windmill turbine at Jhimpir

Karachi: Zorlu Energi Pakistan (ZEPL) has built its first windmill turbine with a capacity of 1.2 MW electricity at Jhimpir, while four other will be erected by the end of current month to produce a total of 6MW electricity in the first phase.

In the second phase, ZEPL will establish 29 such turbines to generate 44MW electricity that is expected to be completed till December 2009, said Murat Sunger Bursa, CEO ZEPL- a Turkish firm at a press conference.

Director General Board of Investment (BOI) Arif Elahi was also present on the occasion, besides Mehbubul Haq, investment advisor to BOI, Muslim Abbassi, COO of provisional committee on investment and Nazir Ahmed Soomro, Director Alternative Energy Development Board.

Power generated at the Jhimpir windmill will be evacuated by Hyderabad Electricity Supply Company (HESCO), he said, adding that five turbines will start power generation from Jan next year to cater to the energy need of some 60,000 people of the province.Replying to a question, Murat Sunger said that presently the tariff is 4.5 cents per kilowatt on 1.2MW electricity, however, it will increase to around 12.1 cents once the generation reaches 50MW.

Giving example, he said that any country needs over one percent energy, if pace of its GNP growth is at one percent. Thus, Pakistan needs energy increase at over seven percent to meet its seven percent GNP growth annually. To him, Pakistan has a great potential for investment in the energy sector.

He pointed out that ZEPL is planning to expand the power generation capacity to 300MW, soon after the completion of the windmill project. Thus, it will be producing power that of the Kenupp's electricity generating capacity. That will be totally green, renewable and indigenous, he maintained.

Arif Elahi DG BOI said that the country has received 1.321 billion dollar under foreign direct investment (FDI) during the last three months in the face of global financial crunch.

He said that wind corridor along with the coastal belt has the potential for 50,000MW electricity generation. But investment in this sector will be required to achieve this mark. The wind corridor's length is some 160km and depth is over 700km, providing wind at the speed of 7.6 whole year.