GILGIT: A consultative session here on Friday was organized with stakeholders from Public departments, academia, media, and representatives from civil society to deliberate on the draft of National Energy Efficiency & Conservation (NEEC) policy which was developed by National Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority (NEECA).
The policy aims to save 9 MTOE by 2030 through implementation of cost effective EE&C measures in major sectors of the economy.
Dr. Sardar Moazzam- Managing Director, NEECA presented the vision for energy efficiency and conservation at national level in the light of NEECA Act 2016.
He highlighted that objective of this consultation was to develop consensus at national level for the implementation of EE&C measures all over the country.
Secretary Water and Power- GB, Zafar Waqar, Secretary Tourism-GB, Raja Rashid Ali, and Additional Secretary, Education Zameer were the guests of honour at the event.
Secretary, Water and Power- GB gave an overview of the energy sector landscape of Gilgit Baltistan and stressed on the need for operationalization of energy efficiency and conservation coupled with initiation of large hydropower projects as soon as possible to resolve challenges of acute energy supply shortages in winters, transmission losses, meager financial resources, and slow paced integration of micro-hydel projects.
He appreciated the timing of this consultation session in winters when GB faced huge electricity demand-supply gap. He said that under this policy, Federal and Provincial coordination should be strengthened to execute the energy efficiency and conservation projects in GB.
Secretary Tourism, GB briefed the participants on the role of reliable and uninterrupted energy supply in the growth of tourism industry.
He stressed that it was the high time that energy efficiency and conservation would be adopted by Gilgit Baltistan through public private partnerships and tourism industry would welcome any national step which supported the industry in improving their energy intensity and ensuring reliable energy services to the tourists.
During the presentation on NEEC Policy 2022 by representative from NEECA, it was informed that EE&C was critical for the country in realizing an export led growth trajectory and improving the living standard of the people.
It was informed that the draft policy focused on EE&C on regulatory and labelling regime to ensure the implementation of energy performance standards in five main sectors including industry, building, transport, power, petroleum and agriculture.
Meanwhile, MD NEECA also presented the initiatives taken by the authority since 2019.
He briefed participants about the institutionalization of NEECA, regulations for energy standards for appliances and NEECA’s future actions particularly in the context of national energy transition and efficiency targets.