We want energy and we want it to last!

Planning minister says government will ensure energy generation on sustainable basis

Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Prof Ahsan Iqbal has said the government was determined to ensure energy generation on sustainable basis by tapping rich potential of renewable resources.

Inaugurating a day-long conference on scaling-up wind power development for Pakistan’s sustainable energy future, he said when the present government came into power one year ago, Pakistan was facing the worst energy crisis as there was 20 to 22 hours of load shedding.

The conference was organized by Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) in collaboration with World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) and Heinrich Boll Stiftung Pakistan.

Realising the gravity of the situation, the minister said the government made the energy issue its top priority and undertook medium and long term measures to overcome it.

The minister highlighted two major problems in this regard; shortage of supply and energy mix. About 70 percent energy was being generated on furnace oil, which was expensive as well as putting pressure on foreign exchange reserves with increasing import bill.

The high cost of electricity production was unbearable for end users and even a large number of companies remained idle.

Iqbal said the government had taken steps for promoting good governance in power supply system and to reduce line losses. The government had decided to encourage conversion of plants run on furnace oil to coal for producing cheaper energy as Pakistan had blessed with rich coal deposits at Thar. He said the government was using the technology for setting up environment friendly coal-based plants.

International community, he said, was also satisfied with the policy of converting furnace oil run plants to coal based ones as the Asian Development Bank had supported Jamshoro coal based plant.

The minister said under the Pak-China Economic Corridor, up to 21,000 MW of electricity would be generated in the next five years and the government was planning to double the capacity. He said the government would encourage solar, wind and hydel power generation in collaboration with China. He said the PML-N government was giving top priority to the energy sector to generate cheap and affordable energy to the people.

The government had allocated Rs 552 billion as development budget out of which Rs 200 billion were earmarked for power sector, he added.

The planning minister said the Vision 2025 also laid emphasis on exploration of renewable resources for overcoming the power shortage. He also stressed the need for continuity of policies, besides political stability and strengthening of democracy in the country.

The other speakers also called for promotion of alternate energy resources for the benefit of the people in the country.

Among others, Air Marshal (r) Shahid Hamid, WWEA Honorary Vice President Stefan Gsanger, WWEA Secretary General Saima Jasam, Officiating Country Director Heinrich Boll Stifung Islamabad and Abid Qaiyum Suleri of SDPI also addressed the conference.