S4 Ep48: The high price of Pakistan’s polluting power contracts

Where does electricity come from? In developing countries, the power sector uses
long-term, rigid contracts called power purchase agreements (PPAs) between a
private generator and government-owned utilities. These PPAs are not usually
competitive, their terms – including payment guarantees by which suppliers get paid
even when there is no demand – are often secret, they can last for up to 30 years,
and they guarantee the use of fossil fuels far into the future. Sugandha Srivastav
tells Tim Phillips about how the privatisation of electricity generation has created a
way to move money “from the public coffers to vested interests”.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/energy-environment/why-pakistan-locked-overpriced-and-environmentally-damaging-power-sector