No end in sight to country’s energy sector woes on September 1, 2019The joint press briefing on August 30 by Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) for Petroleum, with Minister of Energy and SAPM on Information, on his side, has come as a big disappointment. It is amply evident the government has no clue on how to fix the energy sector’s woes, which are gradually drifting not […]
On renewable power generation targets on August 26, 2019Our government is planning to scrap the previous “Renewable Energy Policy of 2006” (RE Policy 2006) and introduce a new Alternative & Renewable Energy Policy (ARE Policy 2019) in a couple of weeks in its place. In this regard, a two-day consultative session was held on August 22 and August 23, 2019, in Islamabad, under […]
Pakistan’s strategic choices in the energy sector on August 24, 2019The global energy markets are currently in flux and the scene is changing dramatically. Most analysts believe that profound shifts are shaping the way energy is supplied and demanded. They feel that these are not mere occasional aberrations or cyclic adjustments but a fundamental transformation is underway that will have important repercussions for developed and […]
Institutional compatibility: a neglected aspect of energy policies in Pakistan on August 5, 2019Energy policies in Pakistan,in the past,have not fully deliveredon their intended objectives. While multiple factors may have contributed to this, an important, and an often-overlooked factor, has been the lack of institutional capacity that was required for theireffectiveimplementation. As new energy sectors policies are currently in the offing, our policy makers must assess,upfront,the compatibility of […]
Priming the electricity grid for renewable generation on July 25, 2019At low penetration levels, renewable electricity generating systems do not pose any major problems for the grid, but their large-scale deployment, like what our government is presently considering (20 percent by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030), exerts considerable stress on the grid. That has both technical and financial implications. It is critical that our […]
‘NEPRA should share the blame for DISCOs’ dismal performance on July 19, 2019National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), in its recently released “Performance Evaluation Report of Distribution Companies for the Year 2017-18”, expresses utter dismay over the DISCOs’ continued poor performance. NEPRA should share part of the blameas, instead of such year-end desk evaluations, it needed to work more closely with the DISCOs during the whole year […]
Electric power industry is moving back to its origins on July 11, 2019A-century-and-a-half back when electric power industry started, it was small, isolated, and dispersed. Small generators, installed nearer to consumers, served them directly,and were isolated from each other. The first hundred years, however, saw these small systemsmerge and grow into a gigantic business enterprise, both in scope and size, and was termed “the largest and most […]
Policy landscape for renewables on June 28, 2019Some policy support is inevitable to harness the full range of benefits that renewable energy technologies (RETs) can provide to our country. But it is imperative that the policy framework and associated instruments to promote renewables arecarefully devised to avoid the pitfalls of a parochial approach and to ensure that these blend seamlessly into the […]
Sun finally starts to shine on renewables on June 19, 2019Renewable energy technologies (RETs) have finally come of age and are nowbeginning to compete with conventional power generation options. Their successful march appears unstoppablenow. But leavingthem to market alone may not permit deriving the full benefits that RETs are capable of providing to society in the form of secure, affordable, and sustainable energy supplies.A more […]
Is our power sector drifting into a ‘death Spiral’? on June 14, 2019In Part I of this article (Daily Times, June 13, 2019), we discussed the few ‘disruptive trends’ in the electricity market that are driving down the cost of small scale and distributed renewable energy technologies (RETs), making it feasible for some consumers, especially those in the industrial and agriculture sectors, to opt for them in […]