Renewable energy production in Pakistan is increasing and will soon account for seven percent of the total electricity generated in the country.
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Alternative Development Board (AEDB), Shah Jahan Mirza, while speaking at the International Renewable Energy Conference organized on Monday in Islamabad.
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The CEO of AEDB informed the audience of the conference that currently, the functional wind, solar, and some other renewable energy projects in the country had been producing 2,000 Megawatts of clean electricity.
He further informed the conference that the under-construction wind and solar projects would produce another 850 MWs of renewable energy.
Furthermore, he apprised the audience that at present, renewable energy projects account for six percent of the electricity generated in the country, and this contribution would increase to seven percent, after the commissioning of the new wind and solar power plants.
He said the AEDB has been making progress in introducing the system of international competitive bidding to promote electricity generation through clean resources in the country.
“Although we have an ambitious target of clean electricity generation in the country, we will try our best to achieve it,” said the AEDB chief.
He said that they had been waiting for the finalization of the generation expansion plan by the government as this would be helpful to determine the exact year-wise need to generate clean electricity to overcome the energy shortfall in the country.
He assured the participants that more electricity would be drawn from the wind and solar power projects already functional in the country with the increase in the nationwide energy demand.
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Moreover, Mirza said that the solar and wind projects alone were not facing the issue of non-payment of dues against electricity produced by them as the issue is of general nature pertaining to all the power plants in the country owing to the problem of circular debt.
Muhammad Tahir, CEO of Prosun Solar, addressing the conference, said that his company has been making efforts to introduce special solar-powered appliances for areas of Pakistan that were off-grid and didn’t have electricity.
He said that his company also plans to work with the concerned regulatory authorities of the energy sector to prevent the sale and usage of substandard solar equipment and products in the country.
He said the solar energy sector has a very bright future in Pakistan as the country had massive potential to produce electricity using alternative power resources.
Mian Ghulam Mohiuddin Ahmad, CEO of SGS Electrical Company, apprised the audience that his company has been working hard to help the Pakistani fan industry adopt the necessary technological innovations to save electricity through their appliances.
He said that his company introduced a fan capable of saving up to 80 percent electricity in the Pakistani market to the benefit of the power consumers.
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Speaking at the occasion, Naeem Qureshi of Energy Update stressed the need for greater interaction and dialogue between concerned stakeholders of the government and private sectors to promote the cause of clean power generation in the country.
He said that more such conferences should be organized as a common platform having the participation of the concerned quarters to mutually discuss and sort out issues of the renewable energy sector.
