ISLAMABAD: The World Bank, in partnership with the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), has launched a series of new solar maps for Pakistan in support of the efforts to increase the deployment of renewable energy in Pakistan.

This will help in expanding access to sustainable and affordable sources of indigenous energy in the country, the World Bank (WB) announced here on Tuesday.

With these efforts, Pakistan will become the first country to benefit from validated solar maps under a global initiative on renewable energy resource mapping led by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP), a multi-donor trust fund administered by the WB.

Pakistan joins a small group of mainly developed countries, having access to duly validated and high quality solar energy maps available for planning and prospecting purposes. This initiative will facilitate investors in making more informed project decisions.

This will help expand access to sustainable and affordable sources of energy

The WB project on solar mapping in Pakistan included field data, which is being generated by nine solar measurement stations installed two years ago throughout the country.

The project supports AEDB’s efforts to harness renewable energy in all the provinces by improving access to bankable data. The solar maps used the latest solar resource modelling techniques, based on 18 years of satellite and global atmospheric data from 1999-2016.

“These new solar maps will definitely ensure qualified improvement vis-a-vis previous studies, and will underscore the tremendous solar potential that exists across Pakistan,” said Amjad Ali Awan, Chief Executive Officer of AEDB.

The new solar maps for Pakistan were unveiled today at a workshop hosted by AEDB and the WB in Islamabad, which was attended by several stakeholders. In addition to presenting and discussing the new maps, participants learned about the ground-based measurement campaign, and discussed various options for continued operation of the nine solar measurement stations installed at diverse locations in Pakistan.

The maps will help large solar power projects in obtaining commercial financing by reducing the resource risk.

“With the costs of solar power having decreased significantly over the past couple of years, Pakistan now has the opportunity to unleash investment in solar energy without the need for subsidies,” said Anthony Cholst, Acting Country Director for the WB in Pakistan.

“The WB stands ready to support the federal and provincial governments in realising this objective, alongside the support we are already providing for development of hydropower, sector reform, and the strengthening of the transmission grid,” the bank said.

“It is time to realise the full potential of this clean and secure source of energy,” the bank added.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2017