ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: With the energy crisis deteriorating, wind-power producers (WPPs) on Thursday backed out of an agreed power tariff of 9.5 cents per unit for sale to Pakistan, saying their input costs have increased substantially.

A meeting presided over by Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatio encouraged the sponsors of 15 wind projects to hold a meeting with the chairman of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to discuss their problems.

Informed sources said the sponsors told the meeting that the delay in signing of agreements for power purchase had led to an increase in wind power turbines by 40 per cent, while the cost of infrastructure had also increased since August last year when their levelised tariffs were put at 9.5 cents per unit.

The minister told the sponsors that if they agreed to the approved tariff, the government would sign deals with them within a week. Otherwise, they should file separate petitions and Nepra would decide their cases within three weeks.

Nepra representatives told the meeting that they would decide the new petitions on merit. The minister assured the investors of solving their genuine problems.

Nepra had approved 9.5 cents per unit tariff for wind power projects to be set up in the Gharo and Keti Bandar corridor near Karachi. The same tariff was later offered to all under the Alternate Energy Policy announced last month, compared to 4.7 cents per unit of hydel projects.

The wind power projects have been allowed a tariff of 11.75 cents (about Rs7.05 per unit) for the first 10 years, and 3.7 cents (Rs2.2) per unit for the next 10 years. As such the levelised tariff for 20 years of the project life comes to 9.5 cents (Rs5.7) per unit. The tariff has been assumed 97 per cent plant availability, about 12 per cent interest rate and debt-to-equity ratio of 80:20 per cent.

On the other hand, gas-based projects have been offered a tariff of more than eight cents, furnace oil-based plants 13 cents and diesel-based projects 15 cents.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/19/top5.htm

*********************************************************

these people just know that the country is is desperate need for energy
and are trying to exploit the government for more money. The government
should stick to it's guns and try to find foreign firms to offer the lowest price.

Their demand is not unreasonable keeping in view the delay. Once policy is fromed and details are settled why these beaurucrates took a year to sign the agreement. Obviously the with 40% increase in turbine price would effect entire business model of the company.

And rather then negotiating and deciding, they are going to consider the issue, for another year or so.......these beaurucrates are the real enemies of development.

Sons of #@#@#@#. Cant the government sue them or something?

Sons of #@#@#@#. Cant the government sue them or something?

In the last 1 year the inflation the world over has been incredible .. in U.A.E. it touched something like 33%.

Had we managed to sign and secure the deal ealier we would not have seen this day... GOP must immediately take action and sign a deal with confirmed tariff. The later it will happen the costlier it will become .. but than again if they do it in a hurry than they would be grilled later on by bodies like PAC, etc. !

hold what the hell took 1 year.

if the gov thinks that it can produce a report that decides the fate of envoironment on shores in just a couple of months then what the hell can take 1 year???

why blame the company its not like they delayed it.

So in simple words,they backed out bcoz govt. wanted to put a cap of 9.5/.unit on the rate of electricity and that was unacceptable for them as they would fail to meet their own cost?

Hmm,i didnt know wind power generation was so expensive.But nothing beats hydro:thats for sure.
Me and my friend were taking abt a small level windmill,but we seem to be lacking on the capital part:P.ANy millionaire here wants to give venture capitalism a short?:P

lol bro, how much does a typical windmill cost out of interest? I never thought a single one would cost in the millions.

Also what exactly are the overheads? (sunny day, no wind, bad weather? lol)

Well its pretty obvious you have NOT had any dealing s with the Pak Government!!!!!!!!! If you had then you would not have made the above statement.

Reality is that the Govt./bucreacy are a complete pain and can delay projects for years. A good example is one of the projects I am looking to revive was with the Govt. for the past 9 Years!!!!!!!!

As regards alternative energy, there are some big people involved now and the wind farms will go up but they are simply trying to get more money. Also elections later this year will speed up some projects and delay others - depends on your political support. Its sad but true.

We should purchase the Wind Energy Technolgy from the China, Germany, Vestas of Denmark also make wind turbines

Pakistan can also Invest in Turkish 1st Solar technology company (Manufacuring solar engergy products) solimpeks or Saudi company bpsarabia. Bpsarabia is venture between local Saudi company and BP. We should ask saudi to open manufacutre plant in Pakistan. We need Solar and Wind engergy. There are also many Chinese companies manufacturing solar panels.


We should focus on these areas:

• Photovoltaic (Solar Electricity)
• Waste-to-energy power plants
• Solar Thermal Appliances (Solar Cookers, Solar Dyers, Solar Water heater, Solar desalination Plants)
• Micro-hydel
• Wind
• Bio-energy (Biogas, Bio-oil and other Bio fuels)
• Geothermal
• Ocean Wave

Jupiter .. they heard you (Turkey !)....

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=39944

Two wind power plants initiated



By our correspondent

Jhampir: The ground breaking ceremony of first two wind power plants of the country was held at Jhampir in Thatta some 110 kilometres off Hyderabad.

The plants costing Rs12 billion will be producing 50 Mega Watt of electricity each and start functioning by the end of 2007. The federal water and power minister termed the ground breaking ceremonies as milestone in the history of country that according to him would significantly help in meeting power shortfall.

A Turkish company Zorlu Enerji invested in first 50 MW wind power generation project while Masters Foam is making the second 50 MW wind power plant under the government Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) program.

The Federal Water and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi along with representatives of both investors and chairman of AEDB Air Marshal (Retd) Shahid Hamid performed groundbreaking ceremonies.

The Consul General of Turkey at Karachi, federal water and power secretary Ashfaq Mahmood and other concerned officials of AEDB and locals of the area also attended the ceremony. The federal minister speaking at the occasion said that the groundbreaking ceremonies of wind power projects are a proof of government’s commitment towards exploring alternative energy sector in the country. He said that under the leadership and vision of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister, the AEDB is working extensively to exploit the alternative energy sector and brining investment both foreign and locals in this sector.

He said that the production of wind power would help in meeting the shortfall of electricity in the country and more investment is being expected in this sector. Liaquat Jatoi said that cheap electricity would be produced out of these wind power projects and asked the people of the country to conserve energy and sought the consumers help to stop power theft.

The minister further said that the investors have been asked to complete these projects on schedule. “We will support the investment and investors would be provided with facilities,” he said.

He said more wind power plants would be set up to generate cheap electricity and improving the living standard of the people. Chairman of AEDB Shahid Hamid addressing the ceremony said that these wind power projects are being installed at the government land of 5 thousand acres.

He said that machine installation for these wind power plants would be started soon and investors have been asked to give jobs to locals on top priority and added that the area would be developed after the completion of project.

He said that the Turkish investors have assured that first production of electricity would be started by the yearend and added that the entire country would benefit of these winds power projects including the local areas.

According to officials of the Turkish company, first cement was laid on Monday with wind measuring station of the plant and total cost of the 50MW plant is expected to be around $80 to $90 million.

They claimed that first production of the plant would be started at the end of 2007 and through its built own and operate project Zorlu Energy would continue to contribute to Pakistan’s electricity generation for 20 years.

The expansion of the plant to up to 300 MW was also submitted to AEDB and hoped that this project would not only increase the country’s electricity production but would also open new employment opportunities.

This is really great news for Pakistan!

I have some great ideas but I don't think Pakistani government is ready to take any action.

Convert Trash into Clean Energy Source

Govt can setup enviorment dept branch which should focus on how to convert trash into CT products such as heat, electricity, fuel, and benign chemical products without violating air quality restrictions. It is believed that 75%-85% of trash not already being recycled could be converted through technologies like gasification, pyrolysis, thermal depolymerization, catalytic cracking, and hydroysis/fermentation into CT products.

Ethanol from Trash
http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1996

Creating Ethanol from Trash
Researchers find a way to make liquid fuels from waste cheaply and without the pollution produced by earlier methods. http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18084/

AROUND THE NATION; Philadelphia to Convert Trash Into Electricity
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...757C0A964948260



Our next focus should be Technology > Advance Agriculture, animal breeding technology, Advance power (Solar, Hydro, Wind)

Bro, jupiter,

Share with me, I dont promise you anything, possibly we can work togather for your plans.

Love and regards.

1st of all change the country main language to English (English is global language)

2nd, we can't depend on agriculture and textile (main export clothing and textile products) for ever we need other source of income.

5 years ago I posted an article about Seafood export and how import it is for Pakistan to get involve in seafood industry but since 2001 nothing has changed.

Here are some ideas for investment:
Engineering - Mechanical/Electrical/Electronics/Software.
Pharmaceutical technology/ pharmaceutical raw materials
Processing Plant and products (Meat, Dairy, Sea food)
Edible cooking oil & cosmetics products
Advance water treatment technology
Medical devices (Medical disposable Syringes and Needles)
Public transport

Nepra increases tariff for wind power projects




By Khaleeq Kiani

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has increased the upfront tariff for wind power projects to about 11 cents per unit, up by more than 16 per cent.

The revised tariff would increase the power purchase rate from Rs5.7 to about Rs6.7 per unit, according to a copy of the Nepra determination released on Monday. Sponsors of wind power projects (WPPs) are still not happy with the revised tariff and will meet Nepra high-ups in a couple of days to seek further increase in tariff.

Practically, the tariff for WPPs has been increased from 7.006 cents per unit (Rs4.2036) in April 2006 to 11 cents (Rs6.7) per unit, up by more than 57 per cent, on a “levelised 20-year basis”.

Nepra chairman Saeed-uz-Zafar was not available to explain the situation. His aide promised the chairman would call back. He did not.

A senior Nepra official said the levelised 20-year tariff had been put at 9.5 cents per unit but two major elements that were earlier part of the tariff would be calculated differently. The Nepra determination said the “levelised tariff of 9.5 US cents/kwh determined by the authority for wind power generation should be applicable after incorporating two changes – adjustment for customs duty to be removed and tariff to be based on LIBOR plus 300 basis points”.

He said most of sponsors of WPPs were non-professionals and had not been able to “lock-in” their equipment costs and other prices on which they had earlier agreed to the upfront tariff. He said the failure of the private sector to meet its obligations would cost consumers heavily.

He said the basic purpose of the upfront tariff was that companies should come forward and start implementing projects if they found it economically feasible. If that was not acceptable to them, they should have come and filed separate tariff petitions as required under the power policy and the alternate energy policy. Both Nepra and the Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) were mixing up benefits of the upfront tariff with the negotiated tariff in violation of existing laws and policies, he said.

He disclosed that though a majority of Nepra members originally opposed the upward revision in the upfront tariff, they finally agreed to it on the basis of a consideration that wind power was a new technology in Pakistan and should be facilitated in the initial stages but that the higher prices would have to be paid by consumers.

Nepra records reveal that the authority had revised the upfront tariff from 7 cents in April 2006 to a flat 9.5 cents per unit in September 2006 with certain conditions. These included that the tariff should be permissible for projects that would achieve commercial operation date before June 30, 2008, and no indexation would be allowed. Even at that time, one of the members had partially agreed to the tariff and had noted down his objections.

The official said that a couple of sponsors with a 300mw generating capacity had reached advanced stages of tariff negotiations and the AEDB had issued over 60 letters of interest but it was not clear how many of them were creditworthy and serious.

The Nepra’s latest determination said the tariff had been calculated on the basis of 31.5 per cent capacity factor. It also allowed indexations for cost of debt on the basis of London Interbank Offered Rate, instead of Karachi Interbank Offered Rate, local inflation, US CPI, foreign exchange variation, dollar-rupee value variation.

In September too, Nepra had increased the upfront tariff on the ground “that equipment cost had gone up as a result of continuous increase in steel and copper prices along with drastic increase in the demand for wind turbines”.

At a meeting on Jan 15, 2007, the AEDB chairman had said “the equipment costs have gone up during one year, therefore some of the assumptions upon which the upfront tariff for wind power generation was determined by the authority need to be revised”.

As such, he argued for “9.5 cents per unit cost after incorporating adjustment for customs duty to be removed and tariff based on LIBOR plus 300 basis points”. Nepra accepted this demand without any modification.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/24/nat3.htm