Roadmap to conserve energy discussed

Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Defence, Khawaja Asif along with their respective teams discussed the roadmap of energy conservation to control petroleum import bills which have reached $80 billion in 2022.

Asif told the chief minister that various energy conservation measures were presented to the Federal Cabinet in October 2022. The prime minister has constituted a committee to fine-tune the measures, he further said, adding that the committee held five sessions to identify and strategise potential energy efficiency and conversion measures.

The committee’s recommendations as spelled out by the defence minister show that if 20 per cent of staff in government offices is allowed to work from home once a week it would save Rs56 billion annually. If markets are closed at 8p.m. it would save Rs62 billion per year. Alternate switching of streetlights could save Rs4.5 billion annually.

CM Shah thanked the federal government team for sensitising him about their roadmap and said that saving one unit was cheaper than producing one unit of electricity. He added that realizing the fact that improvement in energy efficiency and conservation was one of the easiest and least cost-effective pathways to improve the country’s energy sector sustainability.

The Chief Minister said that Sindh as a whole and its urban centers, especially Karachi, alone have a huge potential for energy conservation and improving efficiency by taking measures which include a number of EE&C interventions to be implemented in key sectors of the economy, such as industry, building, transport, energy, power & petroleum, and agriculture sectors.

Shah said that the immense potential makes Sindh a key player with its vital share to be the leading contributor in achieving the EE&C targets at the national level.

The CM disclosed that his government by utilizing the provisions given in the Federal NEECA Act, 2016 recently established a full-time agency called “Sindh Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency” for proper coordination, facilitation, and enforcement of the provisions of the NEEC Act within Sindh.

Shah said that realizing the need for electricity in public service buildings during daytime, Sindh has already solarized 265 health facilities and during the current financial year, schools, hospitals, water pumping stations, and prisons would be solarised through development projects. “This has reduced our dependency on grid electricity,” he disclosed.

After thorough discussions and deliberations, it was agreed that all the stakeholders, particularly traders, industrialists, restaurant owners, and others would be taken into confidence by the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers at their respective levels, so that their cooperation could be ensured.

The meeting, held in the Conference Room of Terminal-I, was attended by Federal Ministers for Industries & Production Makhdoom Murtaza Mehmood, Housing & Works Abdul Wasay, State Minister for Petroleum Dr. Musadiq Malik, Secretary Power Rashid Langrial, NEECA Representative Sardar Moazzam. Provincial Ministers Imtiaz Shaikh, Saeed Ghani, Jam Ikramullah Dharejo, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon, Secretary Health Zulfiqar Shah, and Secretary Energy Abu Bakar Madani assisted the Sindh Chief Minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2022.