Staff report
MANGLA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said Pakistan cannot afford annual energy imports of $27 billion and emphasized the need to exploit the indigenous electricity generation potential, including hydel, air, solar, and coal.
Mangla Dam Refurbishment project
Inaugurating a refurbishment project of units 5 and 6 at Mangla Dam to enhance its electricity generation capacity, the prime minister termed the project the best example of cooperation between Pakistan and the US.
He said the up-gradation project cost $483 million, for which the Pakistani government provided $150 million.
The premier called for furthering the bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and the United States in investment and trade.
He underlined the need that the government has prepared a project to generate 10,000 megawatts through solar energy. He said a power project of 1,320 megawatts has also been initiated in Thar to use coal for producing cheap electricity.
He regretted that the country failed to exploit the hydel power potential of 60,000 megawatts fully. He said taht Diamer Basha, Dasu and other power projects have also been launched. The premier said that had these hydel projects should have been completed much earlier, Pakistan would have avoided the destruction caused by the recent floods, and its reliance on imported fuel would have been minimal.
The prime minister stressed the need to forge unity to steer the country out of vaious challenges.
US Ambassador Donald Blome said Mangla Dam was a great example of the Pak-US collaboration.
He said that amongt other hydropower projects, the US was also assisting Pakistan in rehabilitating Tarbela power stations.
The US ambassador said the rehabilitation work at Mangla Dam would increase electricity output to meet the electricity needs of additional two million people. He said it would also ensure that the Mangla power stations remain functional for the next several years.
WAPDA Chairman Sajjad Ghani said that the government is keen on producing clean, green, cheap energy. He said the WAPDA was pursuing a two-pronged strategy to up-grade the existing hydropower projects and start new projects.
