Pakistan Gwadar port can be a hydrogen hub
Gwadar seaport, one of the deepest seaports globally, can become a hydrogen hub to produce green hydrogen using renewable energy. The region is strategically located and has all the required raw materials, such as wind and solar, to produce green hydrogen, Dr Iqitdar Ali Shah told H2Bulletin.
Dr Shah has 20 years of international experience at various public and private sector organisations, including Pakistan, Greece and Oman, and currently working as a professor of economics at Yorkville University, Canada.
The seaport is considered an important part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. He proposes that the government take advantage of the first-movers to the hydrogen industry to benefit from its renewable resources as well as its port infrastructure. There is a swathe of land available which can be used to produce solar and wind energy. The long shoreline of the port is also ideal for offshore wind energy. He further added that Gwadar could produce blue hydrogen using natural gas, given that the province has the largest natural gas reservoir in Pakistan.
Pakistan has been moving towards renewable energy, and the country target to source 60% of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2030. The current solar and wind energy capacity is standing at around 3.3 GW, which is around 7% of the total net installed power capacity. To support the environment, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced recently scraping two coal plant projects, which could generate up to 2.6 GW of power.
Dr Shah said that Pakistan should also consider other locations for producing green hydrogen, especially the Sind coastline for wind as well as Southern Punjab (including Cholistan) and Sindh for solar, for resolving its domestic power shortage issue. Referring to the United States Agency for International Development and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory report, he pointed out that Pakistan has a potential of more than 132 GW of wind energy. Pakistan has a huge wind power potential where Chinese and Turkish companies have been making inroads in the wind energy sector.
