On Tuesday, 5^th August 2025, Dr Khalid Waleed, PhD (Energy Economics), Research Fellow, Climate & Energy, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), delivered a lecture on “The Dynamics of the Energy Sector in Pakistan” to participants of the 38^th Senior Management Course at the National Institute of Public Administration, Lahore.

Opening with Pakistan’s “3E” nexus: Environment, Energy, Economy, and the rising implications of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Dr Waleed framed the policy challenge facing industry and public finance. He noted that power generation remains heavily import-dependent, costly, and unsustainable, with capacity payments owed to IPPs even when output is zero. He highlighted tariff dispersion, lifeline, average, and >700-unit slabs, underscoring affordability and equity concerns. In transmission, the system “has the transportation, but the roads are not there,” while consumption is skewed: industrial demand is weakening as non-productive use rises, with billions spent merely on space-cooling during peak months.

Dr Waleed also touched on emerging issues in solar net-metering and the broader energy transition, stressing coherent roles for NEPRA/OGRA and market and system operators across generation, transmission and distribution. As a way forward, he proposed integrated planning, conservation and efficiency, and scaling renewables, alongside climate-smart trade readiness for CBAM. He cited two immediate levers: a World Bank-supported fan replacement program (potential 5,260 GWh annual savings; PKR 130.6 bn cost reduction), and nationwide enforcement of Energy Conservation Building Codes 2023 (estimated 15-20% cut in building-sector electricity use).

The session concluded with a Q&A on tariff design, capacity-payment reform, and sequencing of grid upgrades, reinforcing the need for disciplined execution to align affordability with energy security and decarbonisation.