Targeted Investments, Consumer-oriented Digitization Indispensable For Power Security: Experts

The experts during a hybrid seminar highlighted that digitization was the future and it should be tailored towards addressing the lack of electricity transmission infrastructure to ensure price affordability and accessibility to consumers

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Apr, 2023 ):The experts during a hybrid seminar highlighted that digitization was the future and it should be tailored towards addressing the lack of electricity transmission infrastructure to ensure price affordability and accessibility to consumers.

Targeted investments and digital transformation must go hand-in-hand with effective resource management, thoughtful policy development, governance reforms as well as innovation in system planning, highlighted experts during a hybrid seminar on "Powering Progress Investments and Digitization to Overcome Pakistan's Power Sector Challenges," held here at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), said a press release.

The session was chaired by Ashfaq Mahmood, former federal secretary of water & power, and was addressed by speakers including Khalid Rahman, chairman of IPS, Mirza Hamid Hassan, chairman, IPS' steering committee for energy, water & climate change and former federal secretary, water & power, Mazhar Iqbal Ranjha, registrar, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), Sadia Dada, CMCO, K-Electric, Salahuddin Rifai, former GM NTDC, and eminent energy experts associated with IPS including Asad Mehmood, Ahmed Ammar Yasser, and Ameena Sohail.

Khalid Rahman said energy dependency was a major issue and Pakistan needed to escape the vicious cycle through out-of-the-box thinking and win-win solutions at the policy and practice levels.

The power sector must be focused on overcoming the energy dilemma revolving around the availability, accessibility, and affordability of electricity. For that, the power industry must integrate new solutions and ensure targeted investments, said Sadia Dada.

While drawing on the modeling of the power system undertaken by K-Electric (KE), she said since privatization the company has made a targeted investment of 474 billion rupees � six times more than its profit � across its value chain that has resulted in doubling its customer base from 1.8 million to 3.4 million, increasing its energy supplies from 2,200 MW to 3,380 MW, and reducing its transmission and distribution (T&D) losses from 34.

2% to 15.3% which surpasses the target set by NEPRA for the year.

She said keeping in view the rising power demand in its serving territory, K-Electric plans to invest additional 484 billion rupees for the next seven years, which would add 2,172 MW in its generation capacity, including 1,182 MW of renewables. Through its investment plan for 2030, KE aims to introduce more innovations in its distribution segment, such as Advanced Distribution Management System, mobile workforce management, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and Advance Analytics & Artificial Intelligence that would translate into improved customer experience through faster resolution, fewer interruptions, and enhanced capacity.

Salahuddin Rifai said technology and digitization ideas have often been wrongly tackled by the power sector. Consequently, all the costs and expenses were borne by consumers, making the affordability goal futile.

He stressed a consumer-oriented power sector and optimization of cost. Also, as effective use of resources and ideas requires energy experts' input, a professional board must be developed to advise the government in planning.

To establish greater power security in Pakistan, there was a need to systematize wholly with an improved approach, said Mazhar Ranjha.

Mirza Hamid said a major reason for the burden on consumers was because of the obsolete and less efficient power transmission system.

As future power planning is important for Pakistan, Ahmed Ammar said investments need to be done in mobilizing the power policy, along with technology and innovative tools.

Moreover, structural and management reforms must be made a priority to address structural issues and deficiencies in the system's planning capacity, he said.

Asad Mahmood stressed that digitization was the future, and if implemented in letter and spirit, it can address Pakistan's power sector insecurity.

Ashfaq Mahmood said power investment, policy planning, and digitization must be oriented towards transmission, and not generation, to ensure price affordability as well as accessibility to customers.