ISLAMABAD: The Upper House of the Parliament Tuesday passed a bill to provide for establishment of Alternative Energy Development Board (The Alternative Energy Development Board Bill, 2010) as passed by the National Assembly.

Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf while moving the bill in Senate said that alternative energy resources had been receiving world-wide attention to safeguard against vulnerable shortages or price increase of conventional fuels.

He said the board will promote indigenous forms of energy, to reduce environmental degradation and to explore possibilities of providing electricity to remote areas beyond easy reach of the grid.

He said the objective of the board is to assist and facilitate development and generation of alternative/renewable energy in order to achieve sustainable economic growth.

He said the government intends to substitute the Alternative Energy Development Board Ordinance, 2007 by a democratic and people friendly act of the parliament to ensure generation of alternative energy keeping in view its potential in the country.

Leader of Opposition Wasim Sajjad, Professor Khurshid, Mir Hasil Bazinjo, Professor Ibrahim, Naeem Chattha, Raza Rabbani and Haroon Khan opposed some clauses of the bill but most of the members were agreed.

They were of the view that the board was constituted in 2003 but during last seven years it did not contributed anything in alternative energy generation.

Raza Rabbani said  the bill was contradictory to 18th amendment bill, adding under the 18th amendment bill the energy generation has been shifted to provinces and it was no more a subject of federation.

Naeem Chattha, Haji Adeel, Mir Hasil Bazinjo, Khalid Soomro and Hafiz Rashid proposed the provinces should be given representation in the board.

Responding to the reservations raised by the senators, the Federal Minister said the bill was not contradictory to 18th amendment bill.

He said the board will only advise the provinces in alternate power generation and it would coordinate with provinces and donor agencies in alternate power production.

Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf said Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has played a pivotal role for the electrification of remote areas in Sindh and Balochistan.

The AEDB energized villages through solar energy which were away from the national grid stations.

Refuting the impression that AEDB was a bureaucratic set up, the minister said the board was set up in 2003 and was attached department of Cabinet Division. Later it was made a part of Ministry of Water and Power in 2008, he added.

He said the chief executive of the board was a serving government official and chief secretaries of all the provinces would be its members besides three other experts.

The board would provide technical assistance to the provinces for initiating projects to generate electricity from alternative means and not produce electricity by itself.

Later, the Chairman Senate took census of the House over the bill and passed the bill with majority vote.

The House was adjourned to meet again on Wednesday evening at 1700 hours.