The project on “Digital Municipal Energy Management System” has been launched in collaboration with the Center for Intelligent System Network Research (CISNR) University of Engineering Technology (UET) Peshawar, GIZ Pakistan, ADLG Association of Development of Local Government, political partners and eight public energy distribution companies. The project has three main functions including the implementation of an energy management system, digital methods for energy data management through CISNR, and low/no integrated energy efficiency methods. The project is funded by GIZ Pakistan at a cost of Euro 4 million.

Prof. Dr. Iftikhar Hussain, Vice Chancellor of UET Peshawar said the need for a monitoring system to evaluate the efficiency of the energy system is critical for the socio-economic development of Pakistan. He called for National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA), public energy corporations and academia to make joint efforts towards the digitalization of municipalities, which will help ensure net improvement in these systems.

Irshad Khan, GIZ Team Lead, said the introduction of the Municipal Energy Management System will mainstream energy-relevant tasks and processes in relevant departments of the partner institutions. Through this initiative, GIZ will pilot and institutionalize energy management in eight municipalities and address the SDG 7, 11 and 13, namely “Affordable and Clean Energy”, "Sustainable Cities and Communities” and “Climate Action”. 

Dr. Gul Muhammad Khan, Project Director CISNR, said as a leading institution, CISNR is capable of offering flexible and innovative solutions to the energy sector. So far, "CISNR has completed 25 R&D projects solving indigenous problems of Pakistan." UET Peshawar is the only public sector engineering university in Pakistan with all five centers of excellence, which are critical for comprehensive digitization of various systems.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk