Daily Times

Consumer centric government reforms such as the variable tariff scheme and net metering are empowering the public to manage their energy needs on their own. As a result households, industries and businesses around the country are finding ways of being energy autonomous in order toavoid being vulnerable to power outages and rising tariff prices. With the introduction of net metering, individuals can generate income by selling excess electricity to the grid and play their part in bridging the demand and supply gap.

The people of Pakistan are aware of the fact that the energy crisis is much more complex than what was anticipated earlier on and resolving it requires much more dedication than what can be expected from the capacity of centralized institutions. Energy related authorities have caused delays in rationalizing tariffs. They slacked onconducting necessary maintenance work of the power infrastructure. Theyhave given room for corruption and electricity theft to go unaccounted for and most of all they have allowed unfairness to embark upon the people.

Moving forward from decades of using diesel generators and UPS systems, there lies hope in employing cost-effective alternatives that further minimize grid dependence. On-site generation systems such as renewables have created a real buzz in the air and the price of PV panels is going down as more and more people join the bandwagon.

Energy consultants are being hired at different sectors of the country for designing and building sophisticated energy systems. Questions such as what are the load requirements, how can these be met? What are the local sources of generation? How can these be used in the most efficient manner? For how long can these be used? Who will pay for them and what are the benefits that can be achieved? Are being asked at the planning stage of a project for making better decisions.

Energy systems are complex and one way of understanding them is by developing models that depict the aspects found in the physical world. Models that illustrate the spatial, temporaland stochastic nature of energy. Aspects such as behavioral dynamics, technological inter-dependencies, techno-social implications and environmental impacts need to be accounted for. Once implemented on a smaller scale, such models can be scaled up to simulate the energy dynamics of the whole country which will guide the way forward on meeting energy demands with greater responsibility.

The author did his master’s degree at University of Strathclyde, UK in renewable energy systems. He is a lecturer at COMSATS, Lahore.

Published in Daily Times, August 18^th 2017.