KARACHI (updated on: April 20, 2007, 16:12 PST): A leading UAE based, Dhabian Group of Companies will set up a manufacturing unit to produce high quality but cheaper small solar and wind power plants in Gwadar industrial area.

This was stated by the Khalfan Saeed Al-Mazrui, Chairman, Dhabian Group and Director General, private department of Shaikh Nahyan Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of UAE here on Friday.

He said that Norwegian technology will be used to produce small solar and wind power plants which cost around $ 1000 each. Each plant will generate electricity, sufficient to cater to the requirements of one village at a low cost. Local production of these plants will further reduce the cost due to cheaper local labour, he added.

These plants will be installed in the villages of Balochistan and Sindh where electricity has yet not reached. Al-Mazrui said that he had been told that 40,000 villages in Pakistan were without electricity.

http://www.brecorder.com/

I think Rs 60,000 is cheap, It should be more. May be this is ex-Factory cost. Somebody may know about the actual cost.......

It is way cheap................... a single electric transformer for a villege costs 400-500,000.

Actually a nice development, we have still areas where even after spending a billion, one can not develop a transmission line, any details about capaciaty in terms of Watts?

Great news , INVESTMENT IN SUCH TECHNOLIGIES ARE WELCOMED ALWAYS.

I am really not sure how this can be done in $1000. Solar electric power is still very expensive (specific output is very low) and for wind turbines, a single blade costs several thousand dollars. Not to mention the support structure and generator. From what I have read, there is no survey of wind currents in that region. In the 1970s there were efforts to put small hydroelectric generators in Northern areas for power generation under the Appropriate Technology Development program and after some pilot studies it fizzled out. I was myself involved with a group that promoted solar energy (solar cookers, stills for water etc.) and bio gas but none could become commercially viable.
Nevertheless, we must support and develop alternate energy sources

A corridor between Gharo and Keti Bandar, one of the sites where the wind data have been studied by the meteorological department, has been found feasible for setting up wind farms. According to measurements at Gharo, carried out over 24 months, the annual mean wind speed is estimated to be 6.86m/s at 50m above ground level.

The annual power density of the area is 408.6W/square metre, which brings the site into category III of power potential, making it suitable for large economically viable wind farm, says the feasibility study.

Sources told Dawn that about 15 enterprises had already acquired land in the project area. A grid station is located in the area, through which the power generated in wind farms will be channeled.

The sources said the capacity of each turbine would be 50 megawatts but the power generation would be around 35 per cent of the installed capacity based on the wind record.

The sources said the wind farms would be operational by the end of 2008.

The tariff of power generated by the wind farms would be approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, they said.

Under the Renewable Energy Policy announced by the government in December, 700MW of wind energy would be harnessed by 2010 under the short-term plan. Under the policy, wind energy would have a five per cent share of the total hydroelectric and thermal energy resources of the country.

In view of the wind data, the gross annual energy production by an 18MW wind farm consisting of 30 600kW turbines will be 45 million kWh. The net annual production is estimated at 31 million kWh.

According to the findings of the ‘Wind power potential survey of coastal areas of Pakistan,’ funded by the ministry of science and technology, Sindh’s coastal areas were found to have greater wind power potential than those of Balochistan. Potential areas cover 9,700 square kilometres in Sindh.

The gross wind power potential of the area has been calculated to be 43,000MW. Keeping in view the area utilisation constraints, the exploitable electric power generation potential is about 11,000MW.

Pakistan Meteorological Department Director-General Dr Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry said a project had also been initiated for mapping wind power in the Northern Areas. Six stations had already started functioning, he said.

At present, oil accounts for approximately 45 per cent of total commercial energy supply, the share of natural gas is 34 per cent, while that of hydel power remains roughly at 15 per cent, says the study.

Wind power provides an opportunity to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuel and expand the power supply capacity to remote locations where grid expansion is not practical, it says.

A typical wind farm of 30 turbines might extend over an area of one square kilometre but only one per cent of the land would be taken in use, the remainder can be used for purposes such as farming, it says.

Wind energy is an ideal renewable energy because it is pollution-free, infinitely sustainable, doesn’t require any fuel, doesn’t create greenhouse gasses and doesn’t produce toxic or radioactive waste, the study says.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/20/nat19.htm

UAE can only buy technology but never make technology.

I am skeptical of 1000 dollar figure.

I would like to share part of an email from a NewZealand based NGO that has been doing electrification of villages in Pakistan using renewable energy


"In terms of your questions, let me respond point by point.

The cost of these systems varies greatly. The size of the village, number of households, how dispersed the houses are, what resources are available (wind, solar, hydro etc) all greatly impact on cost. But as a guide, for villages of 30 to 50 houses, it is easy to spend USD $100,000 to $150,000. Clearly the majority of communities cannot afford the capital costs involved. The operating cost however can be managed by the community, in our experience. It is interesting to note that governments (not just in Pakistan ) tend to expect the poorest villages to meet these costs, but for grid extension, or even the city networks serving more affluent populations, the capital cost are never lumped onto the consumer in one hit. So why do it with the poor, and with renewable energy? We need a high level attitude change about the role of renewable energy in rural electrification.
Funding is typically NGO’s or government programs, such as New Zealand Agency for International Development, This is fine, but we then only ever end up with a series of pilots rather than a program. Pilots by definition are lonely orphans, and never achieve commercial critical mass needed to be at least commercially sustainable. The service and support mechanism never grows if there is only one installation.
Energy is an issue racing up the agenda in global importance. In New Zealand our national electricity grid is likely to be reduced, not increased in the coming 5 years for areas that are technically or financially not worth providing services to. Contrast this to the ‘extend the grid to the farthermost corners’, approach adopted elsewhere. Unfortunately there are those locations that will never be able to use the power provided by a grid to earn enough income to support the investment in poles and cables. . For those situations, renewable energy offers a real alternative. We proved it can work sustainably in Baluchistan . Technically, financially and socially. So yes, I feel there are many communities in Baluchistan that can benefit from this approach. In addition, Many governments overseas are adapting laws to facilitate the use of small solar and wind power systems in urban situations, with surplus electricity sold back into the grid. Granted, many utilities in Pakistan have greater concerns to deal with than this, but certainly this is the direction that renewable energy is moving in. Indeed at my house in New Zealand I’m installing a 1.5 KW solar array to sell power back to the power company and reduce my monthly bill. So it is very possible. In terms of total funding, I would be guessing, but it would be millions of dollars for an area like Baluchistan . Allow USD $150,000 per average village and multiply it out. But then, what is the cost of grid extension to these villages, and how long will it take? Renewable energy programs can get to the most isolated villages very quickly, and deliver results.
The social side to these projects is critical. More critical I feel than the technology. Issues of tariffs, meters, bank accounts, service and support, transparent accounting etc are all primary causes of failure in many other projects we have seen. In our projects we address the issues point by point months before any equipment is ever installed. We have found the community(s) to be very supportive if they understand why they must use a power meter, why they must save maintenance funds etc.
"

Pakistan should concentrate on building vast solar farms in their desert areas such as Gwadar, Indus Valley Desert, Thar/Cholistan etc. Two German scientists, Dr Gerhard Knies and Dr Franz Trieb, have researched and calculated that covering just 0.5% of the world's hot deserts with a technology called concentrated solar power (CSP) would provide the world's entire electricity needs, with the technology also providing desalinated water to desert regions as a valuable byproduct, as well as air conditioning for nearby cities. Other advantages are that it's safer, cleaner and much cheaper alternative.

Very informative. Govt. should at least start the projects on ground not on paper.

thats amazing.

and a thousand dollars must be maybe production costs, it definitely cant be retail.

solar panels for your average house in the uk will START at £500. so its really cheap. Excellent News.

I think for wind power system, it requires little network of distribution. If Pakistan get Technology for manufacturing the cost can be affordable.

wind power system in Pakistan?

Lack of wind in summer lol.

Balochistan and Sindh have wind belts.

Good news !

But i think Coals of Sindh ..specially Coal mines of Thar Areas must be utilized too for power generation in Sindh ..

The figure is not crazy, the wording of the article is weird. You can buy solar panels that power 3-4 light bulbs or appliances that cost about $700-$1000. I think the $1000 figure is for these small units.

good news. we need as many energy projects as possible

" The Asia Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday it had approved a $79.3m loan to India’s largest private power company to set up and operate wind energy facilities.

The loan will support Tata Power Co. Ltd in setting up and running wind power facilities in the state of Maharashtra which will produce 100 megawatts of electricity, the ADB said in a statement from its Manila-based headquarters.—AFP "

If India can get it why not Pakistan. $ 79.3 Million for 100 MW is great. Pakistan should do that.

India has a very big company that is deep in the Solar & wind energy production and distribution. Suzlon Energy, is a company with around 10$billion dollar market capital.

Suzlon Energy Limited traces its roots back to 1995. In little over a decade, Suzlon has grown to rank as the world's 5th leading, and India's and Asia's leading manufacturer of wind turbines, with over 2,000 MW of wind turbine capacity supplied in India and across the world. The company registered revenues of USD 867 million, and a net worth of USD 617 million, CFS FY 2006, with a current order book exceeding USD 1.7 billion.

Today, Suzlon has facilities in Belgium, China, India and the United States manufacturing everything from components that go into turbines, to complete wind turbine generators, and supply markets around the world.

India is far ahead in this field in Asia so the loan is being taken by Tata co. as it is inthe competition with Reliance Energy and Suzlon Energy 2 of the biggest energy producers in India.

Yeah sure. That is why there are so many power cuts in the capital new delhi itself.

I was talking of the state of Wind Power capability of Indian Companies. I have never mentioned the ratio of requirement & Production Capacity. That's why India needs more power than what its Hydro, Solar, Thermal, Wind electricity combined can produce. That's why India is after Iran for more Gas and USA for plutoniom supply as India hs not got much of Pluttonium as its resources. We got Thoriom in large quantities (40% of world) so we are in Fast Breeding Nuclear reactor research. Which USA wants to put it in the deal.