FPCCI hails RE projects

KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Tuesday applauded a govt decision to green-light 13 old renewable energy (RE) projects of about 700 megawatts.

FPCCI president Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said high cost of energy, coupled with circular debt, was hindering the industrial growth, and with rising oil prices it’s imperative to bring down the energy cost, he added.

Sheikh highlighted that the cabinet committee on the issue constituted by the Prime Minister had played a pivotal role to support the move for the projects commonly called Category-III projects.

He apprised that 13 proposed RE plants of solar and wind, whom had been granted the lowest tariffs by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) back in 2020, were not given approval for development at the time by the ministry of Energy, resulting in project costs to go up considerably and discouraged the entrepreneurs and investors.

FPCCI chief was of the view that had the ministry allowed them to be developed, all projects would have been fully completed by now. Sheikh was hopeful that the inter-provincial body i.e. Council of Common Interests would give their nod at the earliest as all provinces to tangibly benefit from the projects.