Affordable, clean energy vital for poverty reduction, economic growth: VC NEPRA

Feb 25, 2020: Vice Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Bahadur Shah on Tuesday said that provision of clean, affordable and reliable electricity was vital for poverty reduction, sustainable development and economic growth.

"We urgently need a long-term solution to Pakistan's energy needs and this can only be achieved through working together, he stated this in his opening speech at 2nd day of NEPRA Energy Week.

He said electricity played key role in the economy of the country. The developing nations were facing many problems due to the issues with energy security, reliability and affordability, he said.

Stressing the need for greater investment into clean energy,Bahadur Shah said the current economic crisis could be overpowered through exploration of renewable energy besides optimizing energy efficiency. Localized and low-cost renewable energy solutions, besides reduction in overall tariff for consumers, could also boost productivity and employment prospects, he said.

Underlining the need for energy storage technologies, Bahadur Shah expressed the hope that battery technology would be mature enough to be deployed at a commercial scale. It would also help reduce dependence on fossil fuel paving way for access to clean energy without any interruption, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Programme Officer of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said cost of Renewable Energy (RE) has come down and currently was the lowest. The cost of upcoming projects of both solar and wind were 2 cent per unit and 2.1 cent per unit respectively, he said.

He said currently around 11 million people were employed globally with RE sector. The RE would not only help reduce cost of electricity but also control pollution, he added.

He gave a detailed presentation on world energy outlook and called for switching towards RE.

Other energy experts including Gul Hassan Bhutto, Dr Kashif Imran, N A Zuberi, Dr Selim Mokadem, Qasim Latif and others also spoke on the occasion.

Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H Farooqi, Member Consumer Affairs NEPRA Rehmatullah Baloch and Member Licence Rafique A Shiekh were also present on the occasion.

APP