Let the wind power be harnessed

Its refreshing to see CIMB Standard - a private equity firm jointly owned by Malaysian CIMB and South African Standard Bank - showing an interest in actually investing in a wind power project, at a time when the electricity generation sector is dominated by the saga of rental power plants.
Renewable energy, particularly wind power is gaining wide acceptance in both developed and developing countries, clearly evident through the 28 percent annual growth, according to the World Wind Energy Association.
Pakistan became the 76th nation to have introduced wind power generation in 2008, albeit, it was only a small 6-MW project. The laggards that we are, means Pakistan rests way behind its regional counterparts India and China who adopted this method many years ago and are currently among the top five wind power producing countries.
In essence, the lack of interest on part of policy makers is responsible for slow growth in renewable energy sources in addition to constraints on the investment front. This approach has led to disappointing growth projections of renewable energy sources in Pakistan, which according to Medium Term Development Framework is expected to have just a meagre 3 percent share in electricity production by 2030.
Given our heavy reliance on imported oil and gas (which accounts for 60 percent of energy mix), the inability to diversify our energy mix to cheaper resources would likely hurt large scale growth as electricity tariffs are on a constant rise. A shift to renewable energy would help a great deal in easing our import bill.
On top of the potential benefits, installing wind turbine projects is certainly no rocket science either. It is considered a relatively easy to operate and maintain system that produces clean energy.
Besides, given the ease in manufacturing small sized wind turbines, it would likely generate employment especially in rural and far-flung areas where these projects can be installed without many difficulties. Add to that, the comparatively low per unit cost of electricity generated through wind, it becomes even more attractive. Hope, those in power will let the wind blow the power.