Tweaking the power mix

There is an ever increasing trend of countries across the globe embarking on ambitious plans to increase the share of renewable energy in their energy consumption. Given the leaps and bounds with which renewable technology has evolved, efficiency has increased while costs have gone done drastically.

Therefore, it makes sense to invest in renewable energy to wean the country off expensive fuel imports for power generation. Not only will this generate local employment and develop the domestic industry but also save precious foreign exchange for the country.

According to the recently released NEPRA State of Industry Report (2016) the total power generation capacity of the country as of June, 2016 was 25374 MW. The highest share was generated by thermal, which contributed 16619 MW (65.5%), whereas the renewable energy only contributed a paltry 852 MW (3.36 percent).

Recall that a major reason identified by this column over the past year for renewable resistance has been the Ministry of Water and Power’s (MoWP) belief that due to the intermittent nature of renewable sources like wind and solar, it is not possible to rely on these for minimum power generation also called the base load. The belief is held primarily on account of the incapacity of the grid to handle the fluctuating renewable load.

However, the recent offer of assistance by the Danish government to increase the renewable energy share in the power mix might change this. Pakistan stands today where Denmark was in the early 1970s with the majority of power generation being done by expensive imported fuels. From having more than 90 percent imported oil in its energy mix in the 1970s, the Danish now boast over 40 percent renewables in their power mix.

There is a consensus among energy experts that Pakistan can achieve 25 percent of renewable energy in its total energy mix from the current paltry 5 percent. If the assistance from Denmark is properly capitalised upon the share of renewable energy in the power mix will significantly increase.

As increasing renewables demands a commitment to a long term strategy it is a good time to shape the future policy with this goal in mind. Even increasing from the current roughly 5 percent share to 10 percent will take time. Therefore it is important to deal with the grid constraints and include renewables as part of the long term energy plan.