ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s power sector has an investment potential of over $80 billion which includes generation, transmission, and upgrading, said Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan.
Speaking at a five-day inaugural training programme on Pakistan’s power regulatory regime organised by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), the minister said foreign direct investment (FDI) was entering the country as scores of companies had expressed interest in investing in the sector.
“The government has planned to increase the power generation capacity to 42,000 megawatts by 2030,” he added. “The generation sector alone has an investment opportunity of $40 billion besides $20 billion in the transmission area.”
He added that Saudi Arabia was making a huge investment in Pakistan’s energy sector including the establishment of a 500MW solar power plant in Balochistan, constructing a petrochemical complex and an oil refinery.
Welcoming the delegates, the minister said bilateral cooperation would not only bring peace but would also ensure prosperity in the region. He said there was a dire need to strengthen the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) platform. He stressed the need for being proactive, especially when technological changes were taking place at a rapid pace.
He informed programme participants that draft of the new renewable energy policy was being prepared after which maximum benefit could be taken from renewable sources.
“As per the plan, the share of renewable energy will be enhanced to 20% in the total energy mix by 2025 and 30% by 2030,” he said. “Other domestic resources including hydel, coal and nuclear are also being exploited to change the current energy mix from 60% imported fuel and 40% local resources.”
He said the cost of renewable energy was decreasing which would ultimately benefit consumers. “Socio-economic conditions of people will also improve when improvements are made in the power production sector,” he added.
[…] Source: Pakistan Today […]