Smart Villages in Pakistan: Islamabad Workshop Report Workshop Report 10 October 2015 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN Key words: Energy Access, Rural Energy, Biomass, Pico-lighting Systems, Entrepreneurship Smart Villages We aim to provide policymakers, donors, and development agencies concerned with rural energy access with new insights on the real barriers to energy access in villages in developing countries— technological, financial and political—and how they can be overcome. We have chosen to focus on remote off-grid villages, where local solutions (home- or institution-based systems and mini-grids) are both more realistic and cheaper than national grid extension. Our concern is to ensure that energy access results in development and the creation of ‘smart villages’ in which many of the benefits of life in modern societies are available to rural communities. www.e4sv.org | [email protected] | @e4SmartVillages CMEDT – Smart Villages Initiative, c/o Trinity College, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ Publishing © Smart Villages 2015 The Smart Villages Initiative is being funded by the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust (CMEDT) and the Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre (MCSC) and through a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF). The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust or the Templeton World Charity Foundation. This publication may be reproduced in part or in full for educational or other non-commercial purposes. SMARTSMART VILLAGE VILLAGES INS P INAKI PSAKITANS TANISLAMABAD ISLAMABAD WORK WORKSHOSPHO RPE PRORTEPORT Contents Contents 1 Summary 2 Introduction 4 Session 1: Introductory presentations 4 Welcome Address 4 The Smart Villages Concept 5 Keynote Address 7 Session 2: Developing an enabling framework for decentralised micro-grids 9 Syed Aqeel Hussain Jafri, Alternative Energy Development Board, Ministry of Water and Power, Government of Pakistan 9 Shaukat Ali, Renewable Energy Unit, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund 9 Parvaiz Naim, KfW Development Bank 10 Khanji Harijan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology 10 Session 3: Community mobilisation & models for micro-grid deployment 12 Sohail Ameer Marwat, Sarhad Rural Support Programme 12 Nauman Amin, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) 13 Ehsan-Ullah-Khan, Society for Biogas Promotion 14 Session 4: Public-private partnership models to develop micro-grids 15 Mohammad Imran Ashraf, Delegation of European Commission Mission to Pakistan 15 Muhammad Nadeem Zakir, PCRET, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan 16 Muhammad Darjat, PEDO Micro-Hydro Project (MHP), Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) 17 Zareen Gujjar, Community Member, Serai Development Organisation 18 Session 5: Breakout sessions 19 Breakout Group 1 19 Breakout Group 2 21 Session 6: Closing remarks 22 Summary 22 Khaleel Ahmed Tetlay, Rural Support Programmes Network 22 Annex 1: Workshop Programme 23 Annex 2: Workshop Participants 24 -1- e4sv.org SMART VILLAGES IN PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD WORKSHOP REPORT Summary Pakistan has substantial experience of Pakistan to ensure community ownership and deploying micro-grids based on micro-hy- involvement in the planning and execution of dro systems in rural communities. The Smart off-grid renewable energy projects. This is espe- Villages Initiative, supported by the Rural cially true in the case of micro- and mini-hydro Support Programmes Network, Pakistan power projects. organised a workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan on 6 October 2015 to consider Pakistan’s expe- The success of distributed energy projects in the rience of developing enabling frameworks country has been a result of long-term involve- for the dissemination of micro-grids. The ment of NGOs like the Aga Khan Rural Support workshop was an important event in the Smart Programme and the Sarhad Rural Support Villages Initiative’s ongoing programme of Programme with local communities. The rural engagement in South Asia. support programmes under the ambit of the Rural Support Programmes Network have been The workshop garnered substantial interest actively involved in supporting self-help initi- from a wide-range of stakeholders, including atives through the formation of village- and representatives from the public sector, donor community-level organisations. community, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private sector, and academia. Partic- Micro-grids can supply electricity to clusters of ipants in the workshop were informed about dispersed communities in rural areas and can the efforts of rural support programmes in augment supply to the national grid if there is Map of Pakistan e4sv.org -2- SMART VILLAGES IN PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD WORKSHOP REPORT a connection. However, there is a lack of insti- Extensive community mobilisation and stake- tutional support and buy-in within the public holder dialogue is a major strength of the sector. Recently, public sector organisations, country’s rural areas, and these resources can especially the Alternative Energy Develop- benefit the development of distributed grids. ment Board, have been working to increase the The importance of skill development at the share of renewable energy in Pakistan’s energy local level also came to the fore, especially mix. But the main focus of government efforts since communities are often responsible for the remains on large scale projects supplying day-to-day operation and maintenance of the the national grid. There is an urgent need to power plants and the allied infrastructure. At develop the necessary policy and institutional the donor level, there is a need to better coor- frameworks to support off-grid energy initia- dinate funding activities and for donor harmo- tives. The regulatory mechanisms developed nisation in supporting off-grid energy projects by the government are highly centralised with in rural areas. minimal input from other stakeholders, espe- cially the private sector. The lack of buy-in within the public sector also contributes to the lack of implementation of existing regulations. Lack of access to finance and capital also constrain the development of micro-grids. Ensuring access to finance is a necessary, but not the only, pre-condition to overcoming constraints to the deployment of micro-grids. Financial support needs to be accompanied by efforts to attract skills and expertise from the private sector. Pakistan has a long history of deploying micro- and mini-hydro power projects. There have been substantial successes and some failures along the way. It is important to learn from these examples to ensure the sustainability of micro-grids in the future. There is a need to ensure that projects aimed at improving energy access have a component supporting the devel- opment of enterprises that can use the electric- ity productively. These enterprises can have a positive impact on the rural economy and con- tribute to sustainable economic development. Developing local markets is also important as remote villages are likely to have fewer oppor- tunities to engage profitably in commercial ventures. Linking micro-hydro plants to form micro-grids that supply electricity to a cluster of villages is also likely to contribute positively to the local economy and to provide energy for growth. -3- e4sv.org SMART VILLAGES IN PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD WORKSHOP REPORT Introduction The Smart Villages Initiative continued its the presentations and discussions. Copies of regional engagement in South Asia with a the presentations are available on the Smart workshop held in Islamabad, Pakistan on 6 Villages website (www.e4sv.org). A background October 2015. The workshop focused on Paki- paper was prepared by the Smart Villages team stan’s experience of developing enabling frame- for the workshop summarising key aspects of works for the dissemination of micro-grids* in the energy situation in Pakistan. This report the country. The workshop was organised with can also be accessed on the website. Annexes the support of the Rural Support Programmes 1 and 2 of the report provide the workshop Network (RSPN), Pakistan. agenda and the list of participants along with their organisational affiliations. The workshop brought together a cross-sec- tion of stakeholders that are active in the * The terms micro-grids and mini-grids are both used off-grid sector in Pakistan. It provided a in the report. While some contributors to the workshop forum for animated and fruitful discussions made a distinction between them according to their with important learning points for the Smart capacity, there was no consistent differentiation between them. Hence the terms tend to be used interchangeably Villages Initiative and the participants. This through the report. report summarises key points arising from Session 1: Introductory presentations Welcome Address It is better to help the rural poor and ▪ Shoaib Sultan Khan, RSPN marginalised communities as part of a collective as opposed to individually. Shoaib Sultan Khan gave a brief overview and background of the Rural Support Programmes Communities should generate their own ▪ Network (RSPN) and its work over the years. capital through savings to attract capital The RSPN is the largest development network from external sources. in Pakistan, with an outreach to over 38 million rural Pakistanis. It comprises 12 member Rural Programmes should be developed in a ▪ Support Programmes. way that unleashes the latent potential of poor