During a joint webinar hosted by the SBP and Unilever Pakistan to create awareness about the former’s Financing Scheme for Renewable Energy (FSRE), Dr Baqir said that as of February 2021, financing of around Rs36 billion has been granted for 521 projects generating approximately 850MW.
The webinar was attended by various chambers, media organisations, presidents and CEOs of banks, energy experts, representatives of Pakistan Business Council and senior officials from the SBP.
According to Baqir, financing for sustainable development is the need of the hour and financial institutions have a critical role in this domain.
The goal of FSRE is to encourage investments for clean energy in Pakistan, said Baqir, adding that this is part of the country’s efforts to diversify the energy mix and mitigate climate change impact.
Read More: Housing, construction finance shows robust growth, SBP
Several financing options ranging from Rs400 million to Rs6 billion for a range of entities and persons are being offered by the scheme, said the governor.
This includes captive energy units as well as commercial projects and individual consumers who may share excess production with the national grid.
The first FRSE was introduced by SBP 2016 and it was revised in July 2019 based on positive feedback. A Sharia-compliant version of this scheme was also launched in August 2019.
This scheme aims to promote the use of indigenous resources such as wind, solar and hydro power to produce electricity as well as encourages the use of renewable energy at consumer level.
SBP has issued FSRE with a view to promoting renewable energy projects as the country struggles with climate change, said Baqir.
Urging participants to benefit from this facility, Baqir said that this scheme can be beneficial for the stakeholders ranging from the corporate to the individuals.
As part of this financing scheme, Unilever availed a loan of Rs833m through Standard Chartered Bank to set up 8.85MW of renewable energy production facilities across four factories in Punjab.
Chairman & CEO Unilever Pakistan Amir Paracha said FSRE offered tremendous social and business value to companies and producers both in terms of their environmental footprint and cost savings ambitions.
Unilever obtained a loan of Rs833m through Standard Chartered Bank to set up 8.85MW of renewable energy production facilities across four factories in Punjab.
Unilever aims to remove carbon emissions from operations by 2030, as well as net zero emissions from their products by 2039, which will be 11 years ahead of the 2050 Paris Agreement.