KARACHI, Nov 23: The federal environment agency has advised the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) to start processing reports received from prospective windmills for environmental clearances at the earliest.

Sources in the environmental watchdogs said that a couple of weeks back Sepa had sought guidance from the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pepa) on the issue of clearance and certification of windmill projects planned to be developed in the Gharo-Keti Bandar-Hyderabad Wind Corridor.

The environment officials in the province at that time were not clear about some of the relevant issues and mechanisms for handling the environmental reports submitted by proponents of the windmill projects.

Following pressures for assessment of reports and issuance of Sepa’s certificate, a senior official of the provincial agency had requested Pepa to inform the agency about the criteria and legal provisions under which cases of windmills could be considered and cleared, said a source.

When contacted, a director of Pepa, Zia-ul-Islam, said that Sepa had lately been told that the existing environmental laws and impact assessment provisions empowered and capacitated Sepa or any environmental agency in the country to handle the windmill projects as well.

Though the development of windmills and other projects in the renewable and alternative energy sector is something new in the country, there are regulatory outlines, besides the internationally observed practices on the subject, which enable Sepa to move swiftly, he said, adding that the UNDP, which had prepared a report as well, had also started a training workshop for the benefit of the stakeholders, including the environmental concerns, on the subject.

Replying to a question, Mr Islam said Sepa had been told to first start with the initial environment examination (IEE) reports, processing of which, according to him, would not only enhance its vision on the subject of windmills but also give it the understanding about the energy projects requiring submission of environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports, which are cleared or withheld after holding of a public hearing.

A source in Sepa, however, said that the UNDP reports or guidelines did not address the issue of EIA or IEE separately, though it was in favour of impact assessments of windmill projects. The officials wanted exact classifications and outlines for handling the windmills under the two categories of assessment – IEE and EIA – otherwise any on-ground implementation of such projects in line with the environmental laws and judgment of their adverse impacts and formulation of the mitigation measures would remain a difficult or confused affair, the source added.

According to experts, the requirement of conducting an environmental assessment in the case of the plants based on imported windmill machines having three spinning blades up to 40 metres long to translate their power to an electronic drive emanated from the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, and as such the authorities were bound to observe the existing rules.

The act empowers the government to frame regulations for the protection of the environment, which includes the ecosystem and ecological relationships as well as all social and economic conditions affecting community life.

Generally, there have been objections to wind power projects for the aesthetic impact of the wind turbines on the visual landscape, noise from the spinning rotors and their potential to harm birds. According to reports prepared by a couple of project proponents and received at Sepa, among the environmental impacts, issues of loss of habitat and resettlement, harm to vegetation, bird protection, threat to marine life and water reservoirs, agricultural productivity, waste generated by plants or relevant staff, air-pollution during the construction of the plants, impact on the telecommunications sector, noise sensitivity in the areas, shadow of the wind turbines and visual impacts needed to be assessed.

In addition to a few sites along the coastal areas of Balochistan, the Gharo-Keti Bandar-Hyderabad Wind Corridor of Sindh has been identified by the Alternative Energy Development Board as a potential resource for significant generation of wind power. The Sindh corridor has a potential of generating 40,000 megawatts, while different sites have already been earmarked for different entrepreneurs.