ISLAMABAD: Kuwait-based energy firm EnerTech Holding is exploring collaboration and investment opportunities in Pakistan’s K-Electric power supply company to help accelerate the South Asian country’s transition toward renewable energy, a joint statement issued by the two companies said this week.
Pakistan’s energy imports during the last fiscal year (2022-23) were $17 billion, 30.7% of the country's total imports, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
To cut reliance on imported fossil fuel and save foreign exchange, Pakistan has said it plans to increase the share of clean energy in its energy mix to 60 percent by 2030. Currently, the share of renewable energy is only about 4 percent.
“We’re very pleased to see K-Electric’s ambitions for Karachi and its alignment with the country’s renewable energy vision,” the CEO of EnerTech Holding, Abdallah Al-Mutairi, said during a meeting with K-Electric’s head Moonis Alvi on Thursday.
“We believe that a collaboration that combines EnerTech’s expertise and K-Electric’s legacy can have tremendous implications to accelerate these efforts.”
According to the joint statement, K-Electric anticipates that the company will be serving five million customers with a demand of 5,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2030. Through investments and strategic partnerships with entities like EnerTech, the company said it intended to serve up to 30 percent of this projected demand through renewable energy. This would also reduce dependence on imported fuels for electricity production and thus benefit the national exchequer.
“We look forward to working with entities like EnerTech, which have an established global footprint and an investment portfolio coupled with a network of experts in the energy space who can help us learn the best global practices and tailor our plans to deliver energy efficiently and effectively to our customers,” the statement quoted Alvi as saying.
“We hope to work closely on opportunities that can accelerate Karachi and Pakistan toward a greener and more sustainable future.”
EnerTech Holding is a fully-owned subsidiary of the National Technology Enterprises Company (NTEC), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the world’s oldest sovereign fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority, with presence in 65 countries.
