‘Govt’s clear direction a must for renewable energy transition’

Islamabad: Experts at a roundtable have opined that amid growing inflation and energy demands, the government needs to ensure correction and clear direction as an imperative to achieve a just and holistic renewable energy transition.

The roundtable on “Stocktaking Pakistan’s renewable energy progress 2024: opportunities and challenges” was jointly organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Pakistan Renewable Energy Coalition here Thursday on the occasion of International Day of Clean Energy.

Syed Aqeel Hussain Jaafri, Director Policy, Private Power and Infrastructure Board, said market liberalisation can pave the way for a flourishing market and encourage investors at the local and foreign levels.

Ahtasam Ahmad from Renewables First Pakistan said it is crucial to seriously consider the Renewable Energy (RE) integration that had limited roll out in the country. In order to achieve just energy transition, it is necessary to promote innovative instruments that have the potential to mobilise additional funds like philanthropic public private partnership (PPPP), institutional investor system, project aggregation and scrutinisation, concession loans, debt swaps, alternative to sovereign guarantees, investment bonds, etc.

Tanveer Mirza, from UEP Wind Power, was of the view that it is not the issue of finance but is the socioeconomic policies that need to be improved in such a way that attract the international investors.

Faheem Ashraf from Solar Energy said energy is not the issue rather the power transmission system is the bone of contention. We can have PPA models and 7- to 10-year build, operate and transfer (BOT) models like a 500KV to 1MW project should target all educational institutions and hospitals across the country, he added.

Mustafa Amjad, Programme Manager of Renewables First, said the problem is that the country is not creating an easy market but an easy money sector in terms of RE, whereas the response to it faced a decline from the boom in the sector after 2015.

Badar Alam, CEO PRIED, said that the government and the state sector should be the enabler for the whole society with an inclusive approach. He called upon the government to invest in ambitious projects instead of detrimental schemes that add more to the miseries of the local communities.

Zeenia Shaukar from the Knowledge Forum said the urban household possessed the bigger consumers that lack places to install RE solutions whereas renewables were not the part of urban development. Zainab Naeem from SDPI said the discourse should be solution-oriented and not challenge centric as the discussion should start with an optimistic note as energy sector has critical role in driving economies, and global relations.