Media Coverage

Pakistan harnesses the wind, but struggles to transmit electricity
The Third Pole.net
Wednesday, 6th Jan 2016
Zofeen T Ebrahim

With the aim of diversifying its energy mix and reducing emissions, Pakistan is turning to wind energy by encouraging private investments but the government’s transmission lines are not keeping pace with energy generation 

Swooping expertly under the huge moving blades, the seagulls dived into the water, the sound of their cawing drowned by the rhythmic drone of the huge machine. Set up by the Fauji Foundation, a welfare wing of the Pakistan armed forces, the 40 mammoth towers dotting the landscape are spread across 1,656 acres in Gharo, Thatta district in the Indus delta, some 85 km north-east of the port city of Karachi. Owned by the Foundation Wind Energy these two projects of 50 megawatts (MW) each were built at a cost of USD 125 million each with 66% foreign loans and borrowing 33% from local institutions.

Pointing to the vast land, an inter-tidal area, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Hafiz Muzaffar Hussain called it “a wasteland”. He is the engineer heading the two projects owned by the foundation, and he spoke to thethirdpole.net about the engineering and construction challenges he faced. With no roads, even navigating to the place was not easy and water rose right up to the camp office during high tide.

“The soil is such we had to dig 32 metres deep to lay the piles’ foundation and fill it with over 300 tonnes of cement and 200 tonnes of steel to withstand the weight of the windmill, the pressure of the wind and seismic activity, if any. The road had to be raised several feet above the ground with underground drains made so that the seawater did not inundate and eat up the road.” At one time, said the plant’s spokesperson, nearly 800 people were employed, “most of them locals”, but now that the plant is running, it needs not more than 20 to 40 people, with the majority of them providing security.Read more...