Ghassan Barghout, President & CEO Gas Power Systems – Sales, GE Power, Middle East & North Africa

KARACHI: Complementary, not competitive – this ethos must be etched into the global energy playbook, as well as in Pakistan. Sleeves must be pulled up to ensure that Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) forecast of a 28 percent increase in global energy consumption by 2040 is met – without incurring avoidable bills, major price fluctuations and public discontent.

Fossil fuels and renewable are two sides of the same coin. Energy security relies on both renewable and more conventional fossil fuels flourishing. Traditional energy sources — including fossil fuels and nuclear power — still account for 77 percent of total electricity generation globally, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Even aggressive scenarios do not envision the global generation share of traditional sources falling below two-thirds by 2030.

However, the future is undoubtedly a diversified one. The transition to this new era is well underway. Among the many factors that have contributed to this are the political momentum behind the Paris Agreement, falling prices of technology, and the need for energy independence. More than half of new power plant orders in 2016 were for renewable energy technologies and 750,000 electric vehicles were sold in the world in 2016, for example.

However, the low-carbon transformation will not happen overnight and renewable power alone cannot offer the continuous, stable electricity supplies required to power growing modern societies. With energy storage solutions still at a relatively nascent stage, renewable power remains intermittent, varying with fluctuations in weather patterns. This makes efficient, flexible power from traditional sources critical in order to maintain grid stability.

In a country such as Pakistan, power producers’ vital efforts to meet energy demand must extend across gas, coal, as well as renewable sources for good reason. The government has already set out on this path, setting ambitious targets under Vision 2025 to double power generation to over 45,000 MW to provide uninterrupted and affordable electricity, and to increase the percentage of indigenous sources of power generation to over 50 percent. Pakistan’s investments in the Bhikki, Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki RLNG power plants, and the upcoming Thar coal plants that will be fuelled by domestic supplies of lignite, as well as wind farms and solar parks, are prime examples of the diversified investments necessary to meet the energy deficit in the country.

Take the RLNG power plants - they are expected to deliver up to 3,600 megawatts of power, the equivalent power needed to supply up to 7.3 million Pakistani homes, over 30+ year life cycle, making a meaningful difference in the everyday lives of the people of Pakistan. The HA technology helped EDF’s Bouchain Power Plant in France set a world record for net combined cycle efficiency at 62.22% and also offers an excellent flexible complement to intermittent renewable sources that can ramp power supplies up or down quickly, as renewable energy supplies fluctuate. Pakistan’s coal projects also offer a means to bring affordable, reliable and flexible power online using the country’s own fuel resources, thus enhancing its energy security.

As we enter this new era of power generation, energy producers must collaborate to cultivate new technologies and revitalize traditional ones and carve out a diversified and innovative 21st century global energy system. The world is ever-changing and so must our thinking. It is not a question of ‘either- or’ – meeting Pakistan and the world’s energy needs will require drawing on a mix of fuel sources.—PR