- Effective policy should rely more on alternative energy and less on fossil fuels
Energy has got significant political concerns for the stability of a country. Despite the huge indigenous potential and geographical significance, Pakistan showed little interest in exploiting its own energy resources to minimise the energy crisis. There is a huge gap between the demand and supply of energy that has increased the use of imported oil for energy generation in Pakistan. Access to energy is the most important issue of a state constituting an important strategic aspect. Industrial growth has been depleting the resources of energy and every state is in a competition for energy security and availability that is a major point of global power politics.
Pakistan can meet its energy needs as the country has the availability of indigenous energy resources but if these resources are explored and utilised judiciously with sound policy planning and implementation. The reserves of oil and gas in Pakistan are limited and hydel energy is of a political nature. Therefore, Pakistan has to import oil from the Middle East mainly from Saudi Arabia. The consumption of natural gas usage is about 50% and the country has to import gas from neighbours like Iran, Oman and Central Asian Republics. Pakistan’s hydel energy potential is yet to be fully achieved due to the local political situation. At present, Pakistan produces almost 80% of electricity generation from crude oil, 11% from hydel, 6% from coal, LPG 1% and nuclear energy 2%. Pakistan is far behind in the refinery, therefore, it is dependent on petroleum imports.
Pakistan generates 137MW of energy from nuclear energy plants at KANNUP, 325MW from Chashma-I and 325MW and Chashma-II. Some of the renewable energy projects are operational while other projects are not completed yet. 23 wind power projects are producing 1185.07MW of energy. 6 solar projects are generating 430MW, while 6 sugar mills generate energy of 201.1MW from bagasse.
Foresightedness
The economic growth and urbanisation had a serious impact on energy infrastructure. From 1970 to 1990 energy supply and demand was 9-10% per year and in the 90s the difference was 15-20%. The shortfall was almost 2000MW which resulted in load shedding. It was the beginning of an energy crisis that grew gradually since 2000 and was at its peak in 2010 and still, it is on alarming condition. Pakistan’s energy crisis could become a security threat if it was not tackled at operating as well as strategic levels in the near future. Pakistan’s severe energy crisis was the result of a lack of planning, lack of coordination, mismanagement and distribution wastage. Pakistan is facing energy sector challenges and institutions are divided into different entities.
Energy security has a direct bearing on national security. There is huge potential for renewable energy resources that can overcome energy crises and meet energy needs in the future. Good governance and effective policy planning can ensure the energy supplies. Conventional energy resources will not be enough to meet the over-increasing energy demands and renewable energy sources must be developed with sound planning. There should be a comprehensive policy on energy and issues of linkage between different energy resources, affordable and sustainable energy, and the cost of energy should get the attention of makers and planners of Pakistan’s energy policy.
Energy policies of various government were the major cause of the energy crisis in Pakistan, as these governments ignored the public interest. For Pakistan, adoption of policies of optimal energy mix would be vital in the development of the country. The utilisation of alternative energy resources would be helpful to overcome energy crisis. Pakistan has renewable energy resources, but there is lack of desired interest and effort that is attributed to the institutional inefficiencies of the energy sector.
Today 51% of energy is generated by the public sector while 49% of energy is generated by the private sector (IPPs) and raised the per unit cost of energy production. This cost was due to the lack of concern for the fuel sources for energy generation in the 1994 and 2002 energy policies. The government is passing this cost of energy to the consumers and poor governance and corruption had thrown the energy sector into disarray. Another failure that added to the crisis of the energy sector was of lack of consensus among the provinces for hydel energy projects. Due to IPPs country’s petroleum import has increased and exposed the country to critical petroleum market volatility. The use of natural gas as CNG for the transport industry is another proof of these shortsighted policies. The energy policy must have sound legislation, international treaties, incentives and subsidies for investment, taxation and other policy techniques.
The country is in dire need of exploitation of indigenous resources such as hydel (45,000MW potential) coal (Pakistan has 7th biggest coal reserves in the world) and renewable resources (solar & wind) to overcome the energy shortfall. The management should be competent and energy policymaking needs improvement to formulate sustainable policies.
The focus of energy policy should be energy security and less reliance on imported fuel with the maximum utilisation of indigenous sources, both renewables and nonrenewable.