Renewables Readiness Assessment: Pakistan

Pakistan can increase its energy security, improve energy access, and spur social and economic development with renewable energy. Renewables Readiness Assessment: Pakistan identifies key actions to accelerate renewable energy deployment.

The report presents options to strengthen Pakistan’s policy, regulatory and institutional framework for renewables. It suggests ways to strengthen renewable energy targets, examines the constraints of existing grid infrastructure, highlights the best mechanisms to reduce costs and ease technical challenges, and underlines the potential for private investment in renewables for off-grid and rural electrification.

Key recommendations:

• Set a target for renewable energy development;
• Co-ordinate the development and implementation of an integrated energy plan;
• Encourage renewable energy zoning and competitive procurement to reduce overall system costs;
• Involve the private sector in the development of transmission infrastructure;
• Devise a comprehensive distributed power generation plan;
• Develop policies and regulations to facilitate private-sector engagement in rural electrification.

A Renewables Readiness Assessment (RRA) identifies the actions needed to overcome a country’s barriers to renewable energy deployment, with IRENA providing technical support and expertise to facilitate consultations among different national stakeholders. While the process helps to shape appropriate policy and regulatory choices, each country determines which renewable energy sources and technologies are relevant and consistent.