(October 27, 2017)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said Pakistan is one of the best countries to generate electricity through solar resource but it is not being utilized.
CPEC will not only ensure rapid development but also increase the demand for energy, therefore, all the resources to generate electricity including oil, gas, LNG, coal, wind and solar power should be utilized properly.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that at present, the government is preferring coal over solar power and it is slowly developing the solar power sector while the private sector is suffering from lack of cooperation on the part of various departments, difficult rules and regulations.
He said that Pakistan is generating one of the costliest solar power which is not only burdening consumers and discouraging investors but also pushing away big foreign companies.
The solar power can be used to generate millions of megawatts of electricity, improve lives of people not connected to the national grid, help save foreign exchange, improve environment and combat climate change, he noted.
The government should take concrete steps to promote solar power and remove bottlenecks with the consultation of Pakistan Solar Association while import of substandard panels under various schemes should be discouraged to save masses from disappointment.
Government should take serious measures to harness the available renewable energy potential of the country to diversify its energy mix and ensure energy security and sustainable development in the country for which proper renewable energy resource mapping activity covering the entire Pakistan is imperative.
