K-Electric has submitted an investment plan of about 484 Billion for the next 07 years for its Transmission and Distribution Segments in NEPRA, which is more than the investment KE has made in last 17 years, said Sadia Dada – Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at K-Electric while addressing at a seminar “Addressing the Economic, Energy, and Environment (3-Es) Crises: Innovation and Technology Driven Approach” organized by SDPI.
Sadia Dada further added that Karachi’s power demand is growing exponentially and as per the utility’s estimates, its consumer base to expand to the tune of 05 million and power demand to reach at least 5,000 MW by 2030. She commented that through this plan, KE focuses on system reliability, growth in customer base, adoption of technology to drive more efficiency and automation in the process while also adding significant share of renewable energy in its power mix to support the Government’s objectives to reduce the consumption of imported fuel and benefit the environment. Through this plan, KE is eying to achieve its ambition of 30 by 30 which includes increasing the share of renewable energy to the tune of 30%, increasing the consumer base by 30% and also reducing the power outages by 30%.
Dr. Hassan Daud Butt, Senior Advisor and Research Fellow at SDPI in his keynote address highlighted that the interrelation between energy, environment and economy is fundamental to the socio-economic development of the society, especially due to the environment being under immense stress. He stressed on the role of society, behavioral changes and deliberating novel technology and policy solutions as the way forward from the existing crisis.
Muhammad Basit Ghauri, Program Officer, Renewables First said that Pakistan has been struggling to phase the role of private sector and must be given due attention. He stressed on Demand-side Management through innovation to efficiently manage the energy peak load and strengthening the linkages between academia and industry to support innovations driven by industry demand.