ISLAMABAD: The government would have to sustain its top focus on enhancing the share of renewable energy and hydropower projects to lower energy costs through an improved energy mix, although financing for such projects remained a key challenge.

This was stated by caretaker Power and Petroleum Minister Muhammad Ali while speaking at a seminar on hydropower potential. He said that enhancing the share of renewable energy (RE) and hydropower in the energy mix was the government’s priority and needed to be sustained over a longer horizon as it was the only way to provide affordable energy to the people.

Currently, the share of hydel and RE in the total energy mix stands at 31pc and the government has to enhance it to 61pc by 2030 under the national energy policy. “Pakistan has tremendous potential of wind, solar and hydropower,” he said.

He said work on 4,200MW Dasu hydropower project, 800MW Mohmand dam and 4,500MW Diamer-Basha dam was being carried out. However, financing was a big issue for such mega projects, he added. On the other hand, he said Pakistan had 175 billion tonnes of Thar coal reserves which could generate electricity for decades.

On the energy conservation side, the minister said that some 3,000-4,000MW could be saved only through energy-efficient fans across the country.

Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Managing Director Dr Shahjan Mirza said that besides the RE, hydropower projects were equally beneficial for the environment and economy and PPIB had commissioned four projects having a capacity of 1,100MW so far. However, he said it was not an easy task to attract private investors for hydropower projects as it required huge financing and a long time for completion. He said the government’s target of enhancing the share of RE and hydropower to 61pc by 2030 would attract around $100 billion in investment.

Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (PEDO) Chief Executive Officer Engineer Muhammad Naeem said renewable energy could change the country’s future as this was not only important for the industry and consumers but also for the climate and economy of the country.

He said Pakistan had huge hydropower potential in the north and RE, particularly wind and solar, in the south. He said PEDO was playing its role in developing small hydropower projects in remote and far-flung areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Some micro hydro projects have already been supplying power to the nearby localities at a very cheap rate, he added.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2023