Gearing up for renewable power.

Byline: Dr. Shahid Rahim

Power generation from renewable sources such as solar and wind offers numerous benefits to the country but poses multiple challenges. Our government has set ambitious targets of 20 percent by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030 for their deployment in the country's power grid. This is arguably a good first step as renewables can help powering our development dreams in a secure and sustainable way. Turning dreams into reality, however, requires that our government timely puts in place policy, institutional, and financial frameworks conducive for renewables. We don't see such frameworks at present which raises concerns that we may miss these targets and our dreams may remain unfulfilled.

Renewable power generation technologies, especially those based on solar and wind, are making rapid headways into the power grids of the world. In its flagship Renewables 2021 Global Status Report, REN21, a global leader in compiling renewable energy statistics and policy initiatives, notes that despite the COVID-induced economic slowdown, 139 GW of PV and 93 GW of wind capacities were added in the global power grids during 2020 leading to a total photovoltaic (PV) capacity of 760 GW and wind capacity of 743 GW. The renewable power generation capacity outpaced the collective additions of both fossil fuel and nuclear power capacities.

The Renewable 2021: Analysis and Forecasts 2026 report, released by the International Energy agency (IEA) in the first week of December 2021, also confirms that power generation from renewables will keep its thrust in the future as well. IEA expects a further addition of 1,800 GW by 2026 to reach a cumulative renewable capacity of 4,600 GW globally. IEA also feels that to achieve its "Net Zero by 2050" goals, the world must further accelerate its renewable ambitions by reinforcing its present efforts with new policy initiatives, institutional reforms, and renewable-friendly financing and system integration frameworks.

Ernst and Young (EY), a global consulting group, periodically publishes a Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) in which it ranks countries based on whether their policies are conducive for renewables' adoption and whether essential components exist for this purpose? The key parameters EY uses include whether a country has: (i) sufficient energy demand; (ii) the right energy strategy, policy stability, and support mechanisms; (iii) suitable project development and management mechanisms; (iv) sufficient renewable resource and technology development potential; and (v) sufficient current and projected investment volumes. In its latest RECAI top-40 ranking (58th edition: October 2021), EY ranks the US...