ISLAMABAD:The speakers at a conference here Thursday said as energy was crucial for socio-economic development, there was need for new dams and full exploitation of renewable energy to cope with ever increasing gap between its supply and demand.
The conference titled “Energy Needs of Pakistan” was held under the aegis of Model Steel Group of Companies.
Chairing the conference, Abdul Basit, former president of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Convener of Kalabagh Dam Committee, stressed on full utilisation of the renewable energy resources and the construction of new dams, including the Kalabagh Dam, for storage of water for both irrigation and power purpose, on urgent basis.
He said hydropower was the cheapest source of renewable energy in Pakistan with great potential and worth billions of rupees.
He said Pakistan was among the world’s top 10 water-scarce nations. “Because of climate change and other developments, we suffer from floods during the summer and drought in the winter repeatedly,” he said, adding the flood water could be stored for multiple purposes.
Abdul Basit pointed out,“Trans-boundary water cooperation plays a crucial role in supporting wider regional integration, peace and sustainable development as well as tackling regional security challenges and in supporting climate change adaption.”
He emphasised the need for trans-boundary cooperation that assumed even greater urgency with rising water scarcity.
Conference host Meher Kashif Younis, also LCCI’s former senior vice president, said at present Pakistan met its over 75 percent energy requirements from domestic resources, including 50.4 percent by the indigenous gas, 28.4 percent by domestic and imported oil, and 12.7 percent by hydro-electricity.
He said Pakistan had four main renewable sources, which included wind, solar, hydro and biomass, which had a significant potential to provide long lasting solutions for its energy crisis.
These resources, he said, if fully exploited would greatly help diverse the energy supply market, decrease dependency on imported fuels, and do away with environment pollution.
Meher Kashif said solar was believed to be one of the most endowed renewable energy resources, which was equally reliable and capable of producing substantial amount of energy without posing adverse impact on the environment.
The geographical position and climate conditions in Pakistan, he added, were suitable for the exploitation of solar energy. Almost every part of the country received 8-10 hours daily solar radiation with more than 300 sunshines in a year.
Shahid Nazir, LCCI’s Executive Committee Member, underlined the need to combat with supply-demand gap, saying a steady transformation was being observed throughout world from primary energy supplies based on conventional sources to renewable resources.
Pakistan, he said, ought to continue to formulate efforts towards renewable energy endeavours. With the constant annual 8 to10 % annual increase in the gap between the demand and production of power in Pakistan and the heavy dependence on limited fossil fuel resources, the renewable alternatives, which were able to commercially support conventional energy options, must be in full-scale operation on urgent basis.
Rehmat Ullah Javed, founder Secretary General of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Chamber, said policies for buying small scale renewable energy systems using a repayable loan scheme for public should be streamlined and made easy for encouraging the people.
Security, law, and order situations in the country must be addressed on priority to encourage local and foreign investments, he dded.
He said a more holistic approach by addressing all above mentioned issues was important to fully utilize the renewable energy potential to achieve a sustainable energy future of the country. A determined political would be the key to energy independence.