Sindh energy dept has used only 2.87pc development budget since 2015

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KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh government has used only 2.87 % of the total development budget allocated to its energy department.

Between 2015-16 and 2023-24, the provincial government kept Rs 662.854 billion for various energy-related projects, including those involved under foreign project aid, which aims to be implemented with donor support. However, the budget record shows that only Rs 1.8 billion was spent.

In this context, the total cost of energy department in the last 10 years was less than Rs 2.1 billion spent on a single flyover and underpass project in Gulistan -e -Johar, Karachi.

Since 2015-16, most of the energy department development projects have focused on renewable energy and village electricity. Nevertheless, according to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) State Industry Report 2023, Sindh’s total 16,940mW capacity of power generation comes from only 12.5 % of renewable sources.

Sindh’s fuel -based electricity capacity is 14,821 MW, while its renewable energy capacity is 2,119MW, which contains 24 MW from biogas, 250 MW from solar and 1,845mW from Wind. The NEPRA official said the country is currently led by renewable energy. The 2023 report of the Federal Central Power Purchase Agency states that Pakistan’s total power capacity is 46.754MW, which cooperates with renewable energy 2,814MW: Wind 1,842MW, solar 680mW and biogas 291.8MW.

Sindh is about 75.3 % of the country’s renewable energy capacity. However, differences in data sources may be slightly different.

As a signing of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Pakistan has pledged to reduce the expected emissions by 50 % by 2030.

The purpose of this country is to generate 60 % of its electricity from renewable sources, convert 30 % of its vehicles into electricity, and complete ban on imported coal. The achievement of these goals depends on the provincial governments that allocate and use enough funds for renewable energy measures.

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy oversees power generation and distribution in the province, including hydropower and thermal sources such as coal, gas and oil. It also regulates bulk supply rates and sets prices until the Water and Power Development Authority has already established them. The Department of Policy is also responsible for plans, approval of power projects, and legislation on energy production and distribution.

Working under this department, the Directorate of Alternative Energy is focused on developing renewable energy sources, tackling provincial level challenges, and facilitating investment in alternative energy projects.

In the budget of 2024-25, 23 of the 23 energy department have been linked to renewable energy. Although it highlights the change in the government’s policy toward energy transfer, the actual costs and implementation are slow.

Differences in spending

In the 2018 elections, PPP promised to prioritize renewable energy, and introduce policies to attract private investment. The party aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the national energy mixture by 2023 to five percent. As of June 2023, renewable energy is about six percent of Pakistan’s total power capacity, in which Sindh participated in the partnership.

In 2015-16, Rs 6.7 billion was allocated for energy projects, which was reduced to Rs 6.3 billion in 2016-17 and Rs 3 billion in 2017-18. The trend below continued in 2018-19, only Rs 374 million was allocated.

Since 2019-20, the allotments have increased: Rs 2.3 billion in 2019-20, Rs 4.3 billion in 2020-21, Rs 7 billion in 2021-22, Rs 7.1 billion in 2022-23 and 10.628 billion in 2023-24 in 2023-24. The budget of 2024-25 keeps Rs 15 billion aside for energy projects.

Despite these allocation, the real costs have been contradictory. The first recorded expenses were Rs 1.2 billion in 2015-16, mainly on the Village Power Program Phase VII (Rs. 1 billion) and Karachi Phase VI (Rs. 200 million). In these projects, areas were removed under the jurisdiction of K Electric.

In 2016-17, expenditures reached Rs 4.05 million, all of them attract basic health facilities through solar technology in Tharparkar, Sangar, Shaheed Benazir Abad, Umrakot, Kishore and Experts. The move received additional funds in 2017-18, which reached the total cost of Rs 6.806 million, and more districts were extended.

The same health facility continued on the power project, the costs remained stable in 2018-19. In 2019-20, expenditure increased to Rs 53.134 million, which has been widely allocated for the Sindh Solar Project (SSEP), which is the first notable investment in a renewable energy initiative.

Solar power plan

The SSEP, which is a World Bank’s financing move, was initially introduced as a Sindh Renewable Energy Development Project in the 2017-18 budget, which is estimated at Rs 2.3 billion. It was removed from the 2018-19 budget but was restored in 2019-20 with a revised cost of Rs 12.848 billion.

The cost of 2019-20 on the project has gradually increased: Rs 112.466 million in 2020-21, RSS164.917 million in 2021-22 and RSS269.3 million in 2022-23. In addition, the feasibility study of the Sindh Domestic Biogas Program cost Rs 3334,000 in 2022-23. Details of the costs for 2023-24 are yet to be revealed.

According to the SSEP environmental and social management framework report, the project aims to promote solar energy through large -scale solar farms, solar installations and domestic solar systems. The purpose is to use government funding to attract long -term private investment and to create local skills in solar technology.

Solar Parks are planning for the district West, and Jamshoro, a SSEP official, which already has land. He said that under the project, 33 hospitals in Sindh were given solar shape, and that 50,000 domestic solar systems have been ordered which will be expected in Karachi by November 9. The move aims to provide a solar system to 200,000 households in low areas, which is benefiting nearly 1.2 million people.

Delayed and promises

Despite these progress, progress has been slow. In his 2019-20 budget speech, the Chief Minister of Sindh promised 200,000 solar domestic system for rural areas this year, which can still be achieved.

Similarly, the PPP’s 2018 manifesto has predicted that the wind and solar parks of Sindh will contribute at least 5,000 MW in the national grid by 2023. However, the Department of Energy has acquired only land for solar projects, which has not included any special generation.

In addition, the Sindh government often includes more than one energy projects in its budget without real costs. In 2020-21 all the expenses were directed to the SSEP, while three other schemes did not receive any funds. In 2021-22, only one scheme was financed, leaving 20 other energy projects without any investment.

The capacity of biogas

For more than a decade, the Department of Energy’s Alternative Energy Wing has struggled to promote biogas -based power with little successfully. An energy department official said that previous biogas projects have failed due to high prices, but despite the capacity of Sindh, especially in rural areas, noting that only two buffaloes can produce coffee gas so that the eight -member houses can be maintained.