A new World Bank study, “Variable Renewable Energy Integration and Planning Study”, has concluded that by exploiting the solar and wind power potential Pakistan can save more than $5 billion per year.
The report has emphasised the fact that Pakistan’s power sector is strongly
influenced by circular debt, creating a financial bottleneck for producers due to non-payments.
In accordance with the vision of the Govt. of Pakistan of increasing the share of renewable energy to 30 percent by 2030 Pakistan needs to urgently implement a major expansion of solar and wind (“variable renewable energy,” or VRE). It further stated that at least 6,700 MW of wind and 17,500 MW of solar photovoltaics (PV) should be added by 2030 to achieve the government targets in a least cost way. The optimum electricity mix would require even greater additions: a total of 27,400 MW of VRE by 2030. If this were achieved, the VRE share would represent 30–33 percent of a total installed capacity of 85,000 to 88,000 MW by 2030.
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