ISLAMABAD, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 24th Mar, 2021 ) :Adviser to the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Energy and Power, Himayat Ullah Khan Wednesday said public-private partnership in energy sector was an excellent proposition.
The Hydro projects were environmental-friendly and create good socio-economic impacts besides being cost-effective.
Thus, it makes hydro-projects suitable, especially for poverty-stricken province like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.
He said this while sharing his views with the participants at public private dialogue ‘Potential of renewable energy and hydropower development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Opportunities and Challenges,’ jointly organized by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa board of Investment & Trade (KPBoIT) and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
The adviser said the profit sharing with provinces in hydropower sector was necessary for the effective sustainability of the projects.
“Sustainable development in Pakistan is possible by creating better coordination between federating units and better facilitation and incentivization of all stakeholders involved including provinces, displaced public and environmental resources,” he concluded.
Hassan Daud Butt, CEO, KP BoIT, earlier highlighted that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fully understand the socio-economic, financial, and environmental impacts of renewable energy which was highly positive sign. He said that the province was blessed with renewable energy sources and the same need to be harvested.
Shahjahan Mirza, Managing Director Private Power Infrastructure Board, was of view that coordination between Federal and provincial government was of paramount importance.
He said the integrated generation plan was politically unbiased and gives evidence-based planning mechanism and should be utilized for all power sector project planning.
Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, SDPI, termed the recent initiatives and policies in renewable energy by the federal government and government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a significant step forward in Pakistan’s ambition to support clean energy. He said that CPEC and other clean and green investments were expected to play a critical role in this transition.
Managing Director, NESPAK, Tahir Masood emphasized the strategic planning as the major bottleneck in the mega projects. Mr Muhammad Ali Qureshi, representing United Nations Industrial Development Organization, highlighted the need of more Public Private Partnership models and added further that the governments should provide significant facilitation for intra provincial and inter provincial political dispute resolution and coordination.
Hassan Khawar representing the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) project, said that financial models for hydropower projects were being developed with PEDO and this would ensure that the sector was sustainable.
Dr Hina Aslam, Associate Research Fellow, SDPI, informed the participants that SDPI would continue to highlight the potential of renewable and clean energy in Pakistan.
Imran Halim from Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO), and Faisal Hayat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company also shared their views on the occasion.
