Sunday, January 17, 2010
By Jawwad Rizvi

KALLAR KAHAR: A Chinese company, in a bid to tap the potential of wind power in Punjab, has set up four wind mills with a total capacity of producing 50 kilowatts of electricity.

Sunec Wind Power Generation (Pvt) Ltd of China has installed the wind mills in a model wind power generating farm at Pochal Khurd, 20 km from Kallar Kahar. After successful operation and getting desired results, the company will set up a 2.5-megawatt wind farm which may be operational this financial year.

Earlier, the Alternative Energy Development Board had identified a 165km-long wind energy corridor in Punjab which started from the famous tourist resort of salt range Kallar Kahar and ended at the valley of Soon Sakesar.

In the first phase, the Chinese company has completed installation of wind mills in the model farm. It is working on setting up 2.5MW-capacity wind mills by May and has plans to increase the mills that could generate 50 megawatts of power.

Talking to The News, Sunec Wind Power Generation Pakistan Director General Najib Ahmed Sharif, during a visit to the model farm, said the wind farm was situated on a mountain range 28,680 feet high, the second highest in Punjab after Murree.

Six Chinese engineers and technicians have been engaged in the project over the last one year. Najib said the total cost of the model farm was Rs27.5 million, adding work on the 2.5MW farm was in full swing as turbines had arrived from China which would be installed by the end of May.

Of the four wind mills currently installed, three have power generating capacity of 10 kilowatts each while one can produce 20 kilowatts.

Documentation process was also under way and that would be completed in the next two weeks, he said, adding the company had submitted a tariff petition to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). A power generation licence would also be awarded to the company in 15 days, he added.

Talking about the technical side of the project, he said minimum cut-in wind speed at the site was 2.4 to 3 MS (1 MS is equal to 3.6 km per hour) and maximum cut-out speed was 25 MS, equal to 120 km per hour. Thus, wind power would be generated easily.

Available historical data of the area showed that smooth winds blew throughout the day so there would not be any problem in generating wind power, he added. Najib pointed out that the Chinese would make all investment in the wind power project.

Sunec is a wind generating equipment maker in China and also sets up and operates wind farms there. The company is also working on cheap and durable solar energy solutions in Pakistan.

About problems faced by the company in setting up and running the project, the company director general said they could not be able to supply the power generated from the farm to the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) due to load-shedding and were compelled to stop the wind mills. Because of that, he added, one turbine was damaged and the company imported the turbine again from China.

Similarly, he said, undue delay in approval of projects by different departments despite submission of all required documents was also hurting the investors who wanted to invest in the energy sector of Pakistan.

http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=219083