Govt's preferential policies key to development of renewable energy in Pakistan: Cheng Xizhong

BEIJING: The government's continuous introduction of preferential policies, including reasonable tax reduction and fair bidding, is the key to the development of renewable energy and alternative energy, Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law said on Saturday.

According to the clean power generation target set by Pakistan Federal Government, the proportion of renewable energy power generation in Pakistan will increase from the current 5% to 20% by 2025, and further increase to 30% by 2030.

If hydropower is added, the proportion of renewable energy generation in Pakistan is expected to increase to 60% by 2030, he said in his article published by China Economic Net (CEN).

He said, on November 14, 2020, Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan said that as per the Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy 2020 approved by the Federal Government, Pakistan will reshape the structure of the energy industry, further expand its opening-up, and attract domestic and foreign investment through tax exemption, fair and transparent bidding and other measures to comprehensively promote the development of clean energy, so as to ultimately achieve the goal of providing sustainable, affordable and reliable energy.

Nadeem Babar, Chairman of the Pakistan Energy Reform Working Group pointed out that the Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy 2020 will be the "guiding outline" of Pakistan's transition to clean energy.

In addition to solar energy and wind energy, Pakistan will also develop geothermal energy, tidal energy, wave energy and biomass energy.

He further said that with the continuous increase of hydropower generation capacity in the next few years, the proportion of clean energy power generation in Pakistan may even reach 65% by 2030.

"I believe that the government's continuous introduction of preferential policies, including reasonable tax reduction and fair bidding, is the key to the development of renewable energy and alternative energy," he added.

Cheng said, as far as he knows, Pakistan will implement the competitive bidding system, on the premise of ensuring the transparency of project investment and development, attract powerful investors through open bidding, so as to achieve the minimum electricity price and technology transfer.

At the same time, Pakistan will stimulate the initiative of solar and wind energy equipment manufacturers through tax relief, and encourage local manufacturing, so as to create more employment opportunities.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is playing a key role in Pakistan's clean energy strategy. At present, relevant enterprises of China and Pakistan are jointly constructing A large number of photovoltaic, wind and hydropower projects. When these renewable energy projects are put into operation, not only the problem of power shortage will be alleviated, but also the energy structure will be gradually optimized in Pakistan.

About the new energy cooperation between China and Pakistan, he suggested that first, China's technology in the field of new energy is the most advanced in the world. China is willing to transfer all the technologies and equipment in this field to its friendly neighbor Pakistan.

Second, China is willing to help Pakistan develop its own new energy technology and gradually localize Chinese technology in Pakistan, so as to continuously strengthen its self-reliance ability.

Third, with the landing of China's new energy technology in Pakistan and the operation of a large number of new energy projects, Pakistan is in urgent need of a large number of technical talents. Chinese enterprises and educational institutions can help Pakistan cultivate talents in this field.