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Initiatives for energy sector

Initiatives for energy sector

No doubt, energy sector plays a major role in the economic development of a country. The recent decades witnessed a manifold rise in the demand for energy. As per the economic survey of Pakistan, the three principal drivers of increase in energy demand are the surge in economic activities, population growth and rapid technological transformation globally. The surge in commodity prices in 2021 and during the initial months of 2022 mainly lifted by the global economic rebound, enhanced growth prospects and conflict between Russia and Ukraine. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with unusual weather conditions led to a sudden jump in electricity demand by more than 6 percent in FY2021. The Cost of fuel and electricity has improved cost of overall production; consequently higher prices have substantially grown cost of living which further eroded the purchasing power of households in the Globe. Furthermore, the government of Pakistan (GoP) has proclaimed dissimilar strategies to ensure the smooth supply of energy to the general public and to increase economic growth. These strategies include “The National Power Policy 2013”, “The Power Generation Policy 2015” and “Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy 2019”. The National Power Policy 2013 aimed to develop an efficient and consumer-centric power generation, transmission and distribution system that could meet the needs of the people and boost the economy of Pakistan in a sustainable and affordable manner. The Chief targets included complete elimination of load shedding, declining the average cost of electricity generation, fall in the transmission & distribution losses, rise in the revenue collection and a reduction in the time required for decision making at the ministry level or other related departments. According to the government of Pakistan officials, in 2015, government launched “Power Generation Policy 2015” to facilitate private investment in the power sector. The Policy offered incentives to the private sector to organize new power generation projects also invest in public sector power generation projects in dissimilar phases of development. The main focus of power generation policy 2015 was to have sufficient least cost power generation capacity in Pakistan, prioritizing utilization of indigenous resources, facilitating all stakeholders involved in the transaction and safeguarding the environment. In 2019, the Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy was launched to help and promote the development of renewable resources in Pakistan. The main objective of the policy was to offer supportive environment for renewable power projects, rise the share of green energy capacity to 20 percent by 2025 and 30 percent through 2030 by attracting private capital in the area of green energy. The Experts identified that CPEC benefits Pakistan through development of multi-sector infrastructure projects counting many projects in the energy sector. Overall, thirteen power generation projects of 11,648 MW are being facilitated through PPIB under CPEC. These include four hydropower projects of 3,428 MW, 5.0 Thar-coal based projects of 3,960 MW, four imported coal-based projects of 4,260 MW and a 660 kV High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Line Project. Out of these, three imported coal-based power projects of 3,960 MW and one Thar coal-based power project of 660 MW have been commissioned, while ±660 kV Matiari-Lahore HVDC Transmission Line Project has also started operations on commercial basis with effect from 1st September 2021. This is not only the first transmission line project developed by the private sector but the first ever HVDC transmission line in the country also. Furthermore, another nine IPPs of 7,028 MW which include four hydro IPPs of 3,428 MW, four Thar coal based IPPs of 3,300 MW and one imported coal based IPP of 300 MW are at different stages of processing. Besides the paramount advantage of generating much needed electricity, the government officials also recorded that these projects would play instrumental role in promoting economic development, creating career opportunities and enhancing livelihoods by social and development works at their respective locations. Government is taking initiatives for the promotion of alternative and renewable technologies and emphasizing on utilization of indigenous and environmentally clean energy generation resources. In compliance of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE), decision, Alternative Energy Development Board has actively been facilitating different projects. The Development of large scale grid connected ARE based power generation project is being pursued through private investors. The objective of projects under the umbrella of ARE is to exploit clean energy resources and increase the share of ARE in the energy mix. In compliance of the CCoE’s decisions, AEDB has actively been facilitating these projects. These projects are placed under different categories. AEDB has been promoting the renewable energy based net-metering deployments under the NEPRA (Alternative & Renewable Energy) Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations, 2015. AEDB has also been carrying certification of service providers, vendors and installers of solar systems under AEDB (Certification) Regulations, 2018 in order to facilitate the consumers and DISCOs. The regulations were revised in August, 2021 with the aim of simplification under Government’s vision of ‘Ease of Doing Business’. AEDB issued certificates to one hundred one installers during July-Mar FY2022. As of March, 2022, the total number of active AEDB certified installers reached up to one hundred sixty two compare to 104 last year which shows an increase of 55 percent. During July-Mar FY2022, a total of 10,783 net metering based systems of 196.77 MW capacity were installed by different segments of consumers.

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