Fozia Azam

Pakistan needs to provide incentives to investors for manufacturing and assembling solar panels at local level to boost the production and use of renewable energy, said a renowned expert on solar energy. Mustafa Abdullah, a senior wind and solar energy project developer and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Moro Private Company Limited, said while talking to WealthPK that keeping in view the current energy crisis, Pakistan needs to start assembling solar panels at local level to make the product economical and affordable.

Despite showing firm commitment towards renewable energy adoption, Pakistan still lags behind and needs to accelerate its efforts in this regard. Lack of solar panels assembling and manufacturing is one of the major reasons behind this slow progress. Mustafa appreciated the government’s efforts for chalking out the first ever “Solar Panel and Allied Equipment Manufacturing Policy”. He was of the view that it was a much-awaited initiative by energy investors and manufacturers, as they perused the government to devise a long-term and sustained solar policy with a stable and effective system in place.

The policy aimed at promoting localisation and indigenisation of solar panels manufacturing is in the pipeline. Although the policy has not been finalised yet, it has been taken as a productive step towards strengthening the renewable energy sector of the economy. It has been proposed in the policy to eliminate taxes associated with manufacturing of solar and wind energy equipment in the country in an effort to encourage production of equipment used for renewable power generation. Experts believe that it will help encourage local manufacturing of equipment needed for renewable power expansion. “Pakistan is in dire need of climate-friendly policies which are sustainable for businesses, and affordable for consumers,” Mustafa said.

He said incentives and facilities are required to facilitate solar panels manufacturing to make the product more affordable to the people, and also beneficial for the economic stability and growth of the business. He said there is growing awareness about the importance of solar energy among Pakistanis, but the high costs of initial investment often discourage the people. While talking about Pakistan’s growth in terms of renewable energy investment, he said that so far, the country has managed to generate 500 megawatts of solar energy and 1,800MW wind power.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk