Lahore, June 29, 2023 (PPI-OT): High dependence on fossil fuels, an aging power grid, an imminent climate crisis, and ad hoc policy solutions are just a few of the issues debilitating Pakistan’s energy sector. At the crossroads of resource-rich Central Asia and a developing South Asian market, Pakistan’s energy woes-accessibility, viability, and sustainability-loom over the country’s future prosperity.
Recognizing the urgency of the energy situation CERP, in collaboration with the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance (JRCPPF) at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and Princeton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (ACEE), organized a ?rest-of-its-kind workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan on May 24-25, 2023, bringing together policymakers, private and government sector stakeholders in the energy sector, researchers, and academics to discuss immediate priorities and long-term strategies.
The event marked the inaugural session of a series of energy policy-focused workshops in Pakistan and served as the launchpad for the collaboration between CERP and Princeton. Over two days, the workshop explored the complex structural and policy problems in Pakistan’s energy sector through the lens of global best practices and how they can be adapted to
Pakistan’s specific economic and social context.
The participants included a diverse group of stakeholders from Pakistan’s energy sector, including power producers like Hub Power Company, the Water and Power Development Authority, Sachal Energy Development Limited, Pak-Arab Refinery Limited, the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, and Pakistan Petroleum Limited, and regulators such as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, and Alternative Energy Development Board. Government representatives came from the National Disaster Risk Management Fund, the Board of Investment in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Private Power Infrastructure Board, Government Holdings Pvt Ltd, the Planning Commission of Pakistan, and the Central Power Purchasing Agency. Academic and development sector professionals from the SAARC Energy Centre, Women in Energy-Pakistan, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, the International Growth Centre, and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics illustrated the broad interest in energy and sustainability issues.
CERP and Princeton brought on board globally recognized energy expert Dr. Chris Greig, a Senior Research Scientist at Princeton’s Andlinger Center, Maroof Syed, CERP President and CEO, and two of Pakistan’s leading researchers on energy markets: Dr. Javed Younas, a Professor of Economics at the American University of Sharjah and CERP Research Fellow; and Dr. Ayesha Ali, Assistant Professor of Economics at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. Maroof Syed opened the workshop by highlighting Pakistan’s aging power infrastructure and growing energy needs forecast for the coming decade. He also drew attention to the links between Pakistan’s twin energy and macroeconomic crises, emphasizing the need for an interdisciplinary perspective as solutions to the energy crisis will depend on technological innovation and sound economic policy.
In his training sessions, Dr. Chris Greig provided an overview of the foundations of modern energy systems and valuable insights into global energy trends. Greig highlighted the geographical heterogeneity of climate change impacts and the complexity of? nancing low-carbon energy systems. He pointed to the success of the Net-Zero America project as a country-level planning tool for coordinating investment in the energy sector. Net-zero means balancing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with the amount removed so that the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere remains constant. Achieving net-zero emissions requires a combination of energy efficiency measures and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower. Greig emphasized the role of governments in driving the net-zero transition and also noted that for a country like Pakistan, which is not a significant CO2 emitter, it may not make economic sense to focus on decarbonization until later in the century when newer, cheaper renewable technologies will be available.
Dr. Ayesha Ali focused on Pakistan’s electricity market structure and the importance of data on the energy sector data for evidence-based policy decisions. She also highlighted the importance of systematic data management and the need for institution-wide learning on how to apply data-driven insights in decision-making. Pallavi Nuka, JRCPPF Associate Director, discussed the importance of this unique collaboration and the meaningful policy discourse it generated for Pakistan’s energy sector. During the vibrant open discussions, participants delved into the implications of Pakistan’s net-zero transition.
The challenge was to strike a balance between immediate priorities and longer-term, low-carbon objectives. Over the two days, they deliberated fossil fuel subsidies and the possibility of a gradual phase-out, reforestation programs, industry incentives to accelerate the energy transition, immediate implementation of deployable technologies like Aerial Bundled Conductors, and the harnessing of indigenous resources to fuel the decarbonization agenda. The long-term goals for Pakistan’s strategic energy vision were debated, including increased regional energy connectivity, investment in a more robust grid, utilization of domestic fuel sources, and electric vehicle promotion. The workshop also featured two guest speakers. Faraz Hayat, a postdoctoral scholar at the International Growth Centre, presented recent work on energy subsidies in Pakistan and the potential for evidence-based policy-making in the energy sector.
Pradeep Tharakan, Director and Regional Adviser for South Asia’s Energy Transition at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), highlighted energy transformation across the region and ADB’s partnership with countries on investment in critical renewable energy infrastructure. As Pakistan looks forward, it must contend with climate change impacts like the devasting floods of 2022 and the challenge of building a robust energy sector to boost economic growth. Insights from this workshop will help lay the foundation for the country’s sustainable energy future.
For more information, contact:
Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP)
29-P Gulberg II, Lahore – 54660, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35777844
Email: contact@cerp.org.pk
Website: https://www.cerp.org.pk/
