3E Crisis Demands Robust Investment In Renewable Energy Sector: Experts
ISLAMABAD: Experts in a panel discussion on Sunday were unanimous in their views that transition to clean energy may be costly but the current Economic, Energy and Environment (3E) crises demand a robust investment in therenewable energy sector.
This was the crux of a panel discussion on ‘Addressing the Economic, Energy, and Environment (3Es) Crises: Innovation and Technology Driven Approach’ organised by theSustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
The experts called for innovation, robust investment, and real-time data-driven decision-making for addressing the energy and economic woes of Pakistan. Huge investment and digitalisation were described as essential for a successful clean energy transition.
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at K-Electric, Sadia Dada, stressed the need for increased investment in the power sector
to resolve systemic challenges and overcome the 3E crises.
“Since its privatisation, K-Electric has doubled its customer base from 1.8 million to 3.4 million, increased its energy supplies from 2,200MW to 3,380MW, and reduced its transmission and distribution (T&D) losses from 34.2% to 15.3%, surpassing the target set by NEPRA,” she said.
She added that these achievements were made possible through targeted investments of Rs474 billion — nearly six times more than the company’s profits — across K-Electric’s value chain since privatisation.
Amer Zia, Chief Distribution Officer at K-Electric, said that unless access to tertiary energy sources is increased, improving the efficiency of primary and secondary energy sources remains essential to meet growing energy demand. He stressed the importance of enhancing data quality to enable robust, efficient and intelligent decision-making.
He added that K-Electric has introduced innovative technologies such as smart metering and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), while advanced distribution management systems are also in the pipeline.
Programme Officer at
Muhammad Basit Ghauri, emphasised the importance of demand-side management through innovation to efficiently manage peak electricity loads. He also highlighted the need to strengthen linkages between academia and industry to support innovations driven by market demand.
Dr Khalid Waleed, Research Consultant at SDPI, said that Pakistan’s energy choices are coming at the cost of both the economy and the environment, while innovative and technological solutions remain central to resolving the triple-E crisis.
He suggested that Pakistan should negotiate debt restructuring mechanisms such as debt-for-climate and debt-for-nature swaps to build climate resilience, support the transition to clean energy and reduce dependence on imported fuels — an issue closely linked to broader energy and climate diplomacy.
SDPI Senior Research Associate Ubaid-ur-Rehman Zia said that amid high inflation, rising interest rates, increasing supply chain costs and surging commodity prices, the competitiveness of renewable energy projects relative to fossil fuels has been adversely affected.
To maintain cost competitiveness of new renewable energy-based systems, he said it is critical to derisk investments, provide regulatory and policy support, improve creditworthiness of renewable energy developers and establish clear clean energy demand signals — insights that align with evidence highlighted across Renewables First publications.
Article / Report originally published at:
https://www.nation.com.pk/27-Feb-2023/3e-crisis-demands-robust-investment-in-renewable-energy-sector-experts
https://www.nation.com.pk/27-Feb-2023/3e-crisis-demands-robust-investment-in-renewable-energy-sector-experts