Alternative energy policy; Power Division refutes Sindh minister's allegations

Responding to recent press statement by the Minister for Energy government of Sindh, a spokesperson of Ministry of Energy Power Division, Friday categorically refuted the statements in which it had been alleged that the draft Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy 2019 was formulated without consultation of the province of Sindh.

In response to Minister for Energy, government of Sindh, the Power Division stated that all provinces including the province of Sindh were not only consulted at every step during the formulation of this policy, but it had also been ensured that the role of the provinces in all future approvals and implementation of renewable energy projects was prominent and pivotal.

The spokesperson while providing the background of the process of the ARE Policy 2019 formulation stated that the Government of Pakistan was emphasizing on utilization of indigenous and environmentally clean energy generation resources. Development of alternative and renewable energy technologies was now amongst the top priorities of the government. Consequent to expiry of RE Policy 2006 in March, 2018, AEDB initiated the formulation of a new Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy (ARE Policy 2019) in view of government's decision to come up with a policy aimed at creating a conducive environment supported by a robust framework for the sustainable growth of ARE sector in Pakistan. The Government has targeted achieving 20% capacity from ARE technologies by 2025 and 30% capacity by 2030.

The spokesperson said that the first draft of the ARE Policy 2019 was circulated amongst relevant stakeholders by Ministry of Energy (Power Division) on April 12, 2019 for view/comments. AEDB also carried out a two-day stakeholders consultative workshop on the draft ARE Policy 2019 on 22-23 August, 2019 in Islamabad.

Consultation on the draft ARE Policy 2019 was done with all relevant public sector entities, provincial energy departments, all major multilaterals and DFIs World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID, KfW, IFC, UNIDO, GIZ, major trade associations in the solar, wind and biomass business, academia, well-known professionals like law firms, bankers and advisors in power sector.

The draft ARE Policy 2019 was revised on the basis of inputs and suggestions received from the stakeholders and was placed before the AEDB Board in its 45th board meeting held on 13th September, 2019 for approval. It was worth mentioning that the AEDB Board included representation of all four provinces as board members.

Based on the detailed deliberations on the draft policy held during the 45th AEDB Board meeting and the request of the members, the Board agreed to provide additional two weeks for further review of the draft policy by the members and submission of suggestions/recommendations aimed towards improving the policy framework as envisaged in the draft placed before the Board.

Certain queries/clarifications sought by Energy Department, Government of Sindh were also responded to by AEDB.

The draft ARE policy 2019 along with the comments/recommendations received from the Board members including all provincial governments were again placed before the AEDB Board in its 46th AEDB Board meeting held on October 10, 2019. The AEDB Board approved the draft ARE Policy 2019 with the incorporation of majority of the recommendations suggested by the board members specifically by Government of Sindh and Government of Punjab.

The minutes were subsequently confirmed in AEDB Board meeting held on October 31st, 2019. It is worth mentioning that the Chairman AEDB Board (Federal Minister for Power) particularly on the occasion asked the Secretary Energy Sindh for his approval of the minutes three times and the Secretary Energy Sindh answered three times confirming the same.

The policy under Section 2.8 envisages a Steering Committee that will be responsible for making annual procurement plans for ARE projects to be approved by the AEDB Board.

All provincial governments, represented by Secretaries of energy departments, are the members of the Steering Committee along with Power Division and AEDB, with equal voting rights.

The Steering Committee shall devise the terms of reference of its working and criterion for development of ARE projects.

In view of the amendments agreed by the AEDB Board in its 46th Board meeting held on October 10, 2019 and consequently incorporated in the ARE Policy 2019, the provincial energy departments have also been given a leading role in the development of ARE projects under the policy and would be carrying out the competitive bidding for projects in their respective provinces. Moreover, the provincial energy departments would also be involved in the formulation of RFP documents against which the bidding will be carried out. The policy has been designed to give equal rights to all provinces in identification of projects as well as their implementation while the federal government would be supporting the process through its oversight and collaboration with the provinces. The aim of the policy was to ensure a transparent structure for procurement of new projects on competitive basis so that clean, green and cheap energy could be provided to the people of Pakistan.

The ARE Policy 2019 had recently been approved by the federal cabinet and will now be placed before Council of Common Interests (CCI), represented by all four provinces, for approval.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2019