ZUBAIR QURESHI
Transition to clean energy may be costly, but the current economic, energy and environment (3-E) crises demand a robust investment in the Renewable Energy (RE) sector.
This was the crux of a panel discussion on “Addressing the Economic, Energy, and Environment (3-Es) Crises: Innovation and Technology Driven Approach” organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
The experts further called for innovation, robust investment, and real-time data driven decision-making for addressing the energy and economic woes of Pakistan.
Dr Hassan Daud Butt, SDPI Senior Adviser, said the linking energy, environment and economy is fundamental to the socio-economic development of the society.
He stressed behavioural changes, novel technology and policy solutions as the way forward to come out of the existing crisis. He said conservation of energy is pre-requisite to reduce financial expenditure and address climate change-related issues.
The unequal distribution of wealth has become horrific in Pakistan and to improve the situation, a viable solution is a must for which immediate policy intervention coupled with swift implementation is needed.
Sadia Dada, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at K-Electric, stressed the need for more investments in the power sector to resolve the challenges associated with it so that the 3E crises might be ovtercome.
“Since its privatization, KE has doubled its customer base from 1.8 million to 3.4 million; increased its energy supplies from 2200 MW to 3380 MW, and has reduced its transmission and distribution (T&D) losses from 34.2% to 15.3%, which surpasses the target set by NEPRA for the year.” She said all these achievements were possible due to targeted investments of 474 billion – 6 times more than their profits, made by the company across its value chain since privatization.
Muhammad Basit Ghauri, Program Officer, Renewables First, stressed on Demand-side Management through innovation to efficiently manage the energy peak load and strengthening the linkages between academia and industry to support innovations driven by industry demand.
