KARACHI:It is the prime responsibility of the government to evacuate renewable energy wherever it is produced in the country to get it connected to the national grid on a preferential basis as this is the only way Pakistan could overcome its power shortfall solely through indigenous and most inexpensive means.
This was one of the consensus recommendations put forth by the concerned energy sector experts and officials who attended the fifth meeting of Standing Committee of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Energy Development and Utilization held here at the FPCCI head office.
Dr Nasim Ahmed, one of the participants of the meeting, said on the occasion that the Renewable Energy Policy-2006 of Pakistan did contain such a provision making it binding upon the government to evacuate electricity on preferential basis wherever in the country it was produced through alternative means.
He said that such a provision was included to make it compulsory on the relevant government’s agencies like National Transmission and Dispatch Company to make arrangements for evacuation of renewable energy wherever it was produced in the country while giving preference to alternative electricity over power generated through other conventional sources.
Unfortunately that provision was omitted from the policy as now whether you are going to adopt a new renewable energy policy or stick to the one given in 2006 it is important to revive that provision for the sake of cheap electricity to be generated in the country through indigenously available alternative resources,” he said.
He said that it was a very simple proposition as either the government had to evacuate this electricity generated through alternative means or it had to pay the capacity charges to those who have installed renewable energy projects in the country.
The (per unit) tariff of hydroelectricity is Rs 09 but the solar energy could be produced at as low cost as Rs 04. It will take up to 10 years to construct a new project of hydroelectricity whereas a solar power project could be installed in one year only. There is so much difference between these two means that there is no comparison of benefits,” said Dr Ahmed.
Fozan Waheed, another alternative energy expert, said that India at present had attained 35,000 Megawatts installed capacity of wind energy projects alone. China too after exhausting its indigenous resources is now turning towards the option of renewable energy, he said.
Our main issue is that we are generating our more than 50 per cent electricity through the expensive option of fossil fuels. It simply means that our energy mix comprises of over 50 per cent electricity that is based on harmful emissions,” he said.
Exploitation of renewable electricity should not be driven by factors like the demand of electricity as it has many benefits like it is most economical and beneficial for the environment,” he said.
He said that concerned international lenders and investors were ready to invest in the renewable energy sector of the country but their keenness could hardly be utilized owing to the sheer lack of clarity in the government’s policies governing the alternative power projects.
It is high time for us to come up with a firm plan for the development of renewable energy sector as once such a plan is implemented all the concerned stakeholders including the state and government’s agencies should fully abide by it,” he said.
Up to 38 kilometres-long pipelines have been laid in the country to provide gas to the RLNG-based new electricity projects as similar concessional and preferential treatment should also be given in the case of the renewable energy sector to make this viable option fully alive,” he said.
Rafiq Dawood said that renewable energy was the strength of Pakistan whereas power generation on basis of conventional fuels was its weakness. “It is very unfortunate that in our power sector we have been relying on our weakness to fulfill energy demand of the country while ignoring the very strength of the sector,” he said.
Brig (retired) Tariq Lakhair of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company said that the Engro Energy after its successful involvement in Thar coal project had planned to invest in renewable energy projects of up to 1,000 MWs electricity in the newly discovered wind corridor of Chaghi-Dalbandin area in Balochistan.
He said that Engro’s involvement in Thar coal project had proved the long-held notion that the vast coal reserves in Thar area of Sindh could be exploited to overcome energy shortfall of the entire country.
He said that Thar had estimated 175 billion tonnes of unexploited coal reserves, which had much more worth than the combined oil reserves of Saudi Arab, Kuwait, and Iran. “That is why we use to say that the Thar is going to change entire Pakistan,” he said.
Naeem Qureshi, Vice Chairman of FPCCI Standing Committee on Energy Development and Utilization, said the present government should consult all the concerned stakeholders related to the power sector in order to devise a fresh renewable energy policy as sooner this job is completed the better it is for the sake of energy security of Pakistan.
Malik Khuda Baksh, Chairman of the Standing Committee, thanked all the speakers from the power sector for their participation in the meeting while saying that all their proposals and recommendations would be later formally compiled for sending them to the relevant provincial and federal energy authorities for their speedy implementation.
He said that his Standing Committee would also follow up with these concerned authorities to get these recommendations implemented at the earliest for the sake of development of energy sector of the country.