INP-WealthPk
WB Advises Pakistan to Adopt Renewable Resources for Power Generation
May 23, 2022
By Muhammad Soban ISLAMABAD, May 23, (INP-WealthPK): The World Bank has advised Pakistan to expedite the process of revamping its energy sector by adopting renewable resources, according to WealthPK. Pakistan has already decided to revamp its energy sector. However, the pace of the process is not up to the desired level. Keeping in view the importance of revamping the energy sector, the World Bank has urged the government of Pakistan to expedite the process. Pakistan wants to move from fossil resources to renewable ones by 2030 for electricity generation. According to the roadmap devised for the purpose, 60 percent of the electricity in the country will be generated through renewable resources such as solar, wind and hydropower by 2030. Till September 2021, only 1,700 megawatts of energy was generated through solar and wind resources in the country. The government has planned to increase the capacity of solar and wind electricity generation to 12,900 megawatts by the end of this decade. It will need to add 11,200 megawatts of solar and wind electricity to the national grid in the next eight years. The country, however, has not added any utility-scale solar pipeline during the past three years. According to the World Bank, the competitive bidding will be needed for the installation of more than 11 gigawatts of renewable energy plants in Pakistan by 2028. The World Bank considers it vital for ensuring the future procurement of renewable energy in a transparent manner. Early action is critical for building the capacity of the relevant procuring authorities. Pakistan has huge potential for solar and wind power generation. The electricity needs of the country can be met by allocating only 0.071 percent of its total land to solar photovoltaic power production, according to the World Bank. The wind is another cheap source of power generation in the country, having several well-known wind corridors. The average speed of wind in 10 percent of the country's regions is 7.87 meters per second. Despite the execution of a number of successful projects, the capacity of solar and wind energy generation in Pakistan is just 1.7 gigawatts. Solar and wind energy have only 1.07 and 3.31 percent share, respectively, in the total power generation capacity of Pakistan. In the modern world, economies transition from conventional energy resources to sustainable and renewable ones. The government of Pakistan has also decided to stop initiating new coal projects and move towards renewable energy resources. Besides being cheap, renewable energy production is also environment-friendly. Dr Iftikhar Ahmad, an environmental expert at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad, told WealthPK that renewable energy resources were unlimited and efficient in the longer term. “Though these resources have higher initial implantation costs, a country can save a lot of money over a long period by shifting its energy production from non-renewable to renewable,” he said. He added that Pakistan must transfer its energy sector from non-renewable to renewable resources and invest in research on the efficient production of renewable energy.
