ISLAMABAD: While acknowledging the past mistakes of successive governments, speakers at a seminar advocated for a balanced energy mix that includes nuclear power, now recognized as green energy.
The seminar, titled “Pakistan’s Energy Crisis: Role of Nuclear Power,” was organized by the Centre for International Strategic Studies.
Former chairman of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Tauseef H Farooqi, shared insights from his experience in both the private and public sectors. He highlighted past errors, current electricity demands, and future strategies. “We have damaged the country with ‘hard work’ as the power sector grew chaotically. I introduced the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) and the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBM) to open up the electricity market,” he stated.
Regarding nuclear energy, Farooqi emphasized its high capital expenditure (capex) but affirmed that it remains a cheap, reliable, and green energy source that provides a stable base load. He noted that the government has committed to new projects totaling 17,000 MW till 2034, most of which are hydropower and do not serve as a base load.
Dr Khaqan Najeeb, former spokesperson for the Finance Ministry, addressed the economic barriers posed by energy costs, which hinder industrial growth and are unaffordable for middle-income consumers. He advocated for a competitive market structure to lower prices through retail competition and improved service quality.
Dr Najeeb pointed out that current capacity payments amount to approximately Rs 2.1 trillion, alongside a financial burden of Rs 1.048 trillion in subsidies. He proposed reducing the Return on Equity (RoE) for government plants by Rs 1 per unit and re-profiling the debt of recent Independent Power Producers (IPPs), including those under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), by Rs 3.5 per unit. He indicated that agreements with five IPPs could potentially reduce costs by about Rs 0.65 per unit.
He suggested introducing risk and reward mechanisms for the private sector through price discovery, commercial B2B contracts, and replacing the upfront tariff regime with competitive bidding. Furthermore, he recommended eliminating guaranteed returns for IPP contracts.
He said, there is a need to encourage new hybrid wind and solar IPPs after accounting for already committed projects, building codes, off-grid solutions for rural electrification and cheap clean financing products.
According to the press release, the seminar brought together stakeholders from various organizations in Pakistan, including policymakers, experts, and scholars. Its aim was to raise awareness about the importance of nuclear energy for Pakistan's socioeconomic development and climate change mitigation. Keynote addresses were delivered by prominent figures, including Dr. Khaqan Hassan Najeeb, Tauseef H. Farooqi, and Mushahid Hussain Syed, former Senator and Minister for Information. Dr. Henri Paillere, Head of the Planning and Economic Studies Section at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was also a speaker.
Executive Director CISS, Ambassador Syed Ali Sarwar Naqvi welcome the participants and elaborated the objective of the seminar and Pakistan's achievements in nuclear energy domain.
The seminar was addressed online by Dr Henri Paillere, Head Planning & Financing Studies at IAEA who assessed pros and cons of nuclear power and stressed that nuclear was a long-term solution which is sustainable and its advantages outweighed the disadvantage of high capital cost. He also quoted International Energy Agency (IEA) that “without nuclear it is very hard to reach our target of emission and carbon free energy.”
Dr Afia Malik of PIDE also addressed the seminar and said that after the decision of the govt to discontinue supply of gas to captive power plants, nuclear presents a viable option.
Irfan Tariq, former DG Ministry of Climate Change, highlighted the climate change issues and role of nuclear power in its mitigation.
Ambassador Shafqat Kakakhel highlighted nuclear energy contributions towards achievement of SDGs by Pakistan.
Syed Muhammad Ali, prominent analyst, spoke about role of nuclear power in energy security.
Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhary, former Foreign Secretary and Syed Akhtar Ali former member Planning Commission chaired the sessions.
Eminent politician and Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed addressing the seminar as chief guest paid rich tribute to scientists associated with nuclear program of the country and stressed that it is important for Pakistan to shift from fossil fuel to clean options including nuclear power. He acknowledged that nuclear power is clean, green and would work as stimulus for socio economic growth.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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