Renewable energy: Denmark poised to launch 3-year ‘SSC’ from Jan 2026

ISLAMABAD: Denmark is poised to launch a three –year Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) in Pakistan’s energy sector from January next year aimed at development of low-carbon pathways, cost-efficient NDC implementation and upscaling and setting long-term variable renewable energy targets based on collaboration, technical assistance, exchange of information and awareness raising within the selected thematic areas on green energy transition and climate mitigation.

In a letter to the Power Division, Danish Charge’ d’Affaires to Pakistan, Peter Emil Nielsen, has appreciated the Division’s efforts to receive the high-level delegation from the Danish Energy Agency on Aug 18, 2025, to kick-start the programming of a new SSC programme in Pakistan for the 2026-2028 period.

Denmark to launch 3-year SSC programme with Pak power sector

During the 5-day mission to Pakistan, the Danish Energy Agency and the Danish Embassy in Islamabad met with several ministers, government partners, energy companies, NGOs, think tanks, international donors (GIZ, World Bank), and others to present and discuss the most important topics/areas for future cooperation under the new SSC programme.

The meetings with the stakeholders were very productive, with positive and strong support for the new SSC programme. There was a high demand for capacity building and technical assistance within the three thematic areas: (i) energy planning; (ii) Integration of renewable energy; and (iii) energy efficiency in industry, which the SSC programme is expected to continue from DETI.

Building on this progress, the Embassy of Denmark proposed the following next steps with the esteemed the Power Division to ensure timely and smooth approval of the SSC to initiate the official launch by Jan 1, 2026: (i) Power Division should share the “SSC Project Document Consultation note” with the relevant stakeholders including ISMO, NGC, NEECA and Nepra, etc, for their written feedback and insights on the result framework for the SSC program no later than, Friday Sept 26, 2025; (ii) Power Division’s input on the approval process for the SSC program in Pakistan and the requirements for MoU signing in November 2025 ;(iii) SSC program will be governed by a Steering Committee, which will meet once a year to review and approve annual work plans and progress reports, and to make adjustments if necessary.

The steering committee will be co-chaired by the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and the Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan.

The Embassy has requested Power Division to nominate a representative to serve as co-chair from the Pakistani side; and (iv) the SSC will also include an Implementing Group (IG) comprising representatives from the Power Division, NEPRA,ISMO, NEECA, the DEA, and the Danish Embassy. This group will manage program-level coordination between Steering Committee meetings. We would appreciate it if the Ministry could also share nominations for the IG from the Pakistani side.

The objective for the whole SSC programme is the development of low-carbon pathways, cost-efficient NDC implementation, and upscaling and setting long-term variable renewable energy targets based on collaboration, technical assistance, exchange of information, and awareness raising within the selected thematic areas on green energy transition and climate mitigation.

This SSC programme supports Pakistan in developing and implementing a realistic, sustainable, low-cost, and low-carbon energy mix, which will enable it to meet its national variable renewable energy and energy efficiency targets in 2030.

This outcome comprises three outputs: (i) long-term energy planning;(ii) variable renewable energy integration; and (iii) energy efficiency in the industrial sector.

In close cooperation with the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, the DEA will manage the day-to-day implementation of the programme, including preparing materials for the steering committee.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025