Abstract:
It has been estimated that with the present utilization o f resources, the country will run out o f oil and gas reserves in one and a half decade. There is, thus, a strong need to take measures to tap other resources of energy, which are abundantly available in Pakistan. The exploitation of these resources for production of electricity on local basis, under participatory system of development, would supplement energy being provided by WAPDA, at a much lower cost due to the avoidance of laying high-tension cables, transformers, and meters, etc., and the manpower required to maintain the system. Balochistan is a large but thinly populated province of Pakistan. The situation of electrification in Balochistan is serious, as a vast majority of the population is without access to electricity. Many villages and districts of Balochistan do not have centralized electricity-grid and there is no hope, in the near future, to have one because the extension of grid to such remote and scattered settlements is neither practical not- economically viable. In Balochistan, out of a total number of 13,700 villages, WAPDA has merely electrified 3,154 villages due to the high cost involved in developing the necessary infrastructure. Not surprisingly, this situation is a source of discontentment among the people of the Province. Pakistan has a considerable potential of wind-energy in the coastal belt of Balochistan and Sindh, as well as in the desert areas of Punjab and Sindh, which if utilized effectively, can not only electrify all remote coastal villages, but the electricity so produced also can be fed to the national grid. This renewable source of energy has however, so far, not been utilized. Recently, fourteen small wind-turbines (300-500 watts) were procured and installed by PCRET under Sino-Pak S&T Protocol. Being encouraged by performance of these small wind- turbines, a further 120 wind-turbines (100 of 500 watts and 20 wind-turbines of 5kW each) are being installed. The small wind-turbines of 500 watts have been imported from China and that of 5kW from Spain. Efforts are also being made to initiate local manufacturing of 500 watts wind-turbines under ToT from China and (5-10) kW wind- turbines under ToT from some European countries.
Page(s):
39-47
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Proceedings Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Development, Volume: 4, Issue: 0, Year: 2005