Pakistan is moving towards cheaper electricity: energy minister

ISLAMABAD: Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir on Wednesday said the government has decided to utilize indigenous resources for power generation, ARY News reported.

He was addressing a news conference in Islamabad. “We are moving towards solarization from today, which will be cheaper and provide relief to consumers,” he said.

He said shifting the electricity generation on indigenous sources will lessen burden on the national exchequer and provide cheap electricity to consumers.

The Minister for Power said the indigenous sources of energy in Pakistan are solar, wind, hydel, coal and nuclear which are not only cost effective but also environment friendly.

He said bidding of a 600-megawatt pilot solar project is being completed today which will determine the cost of these projects and then through these sources, 11,000-megawatt electricity will be added to the national grid in the coming years.

Federal Minister said the government has also planned to initiate solar power projects in rural areas and will install solar systems at buildings, while agricultural tube wells will also be solarized.

He said currently the government is working on a number of power projects which will add two thousand megawatts electricity to the national grid by next year.

He said 1320-megawatt Shanghai Thar coal power project will be completed by the end of this year.