INTRODUCTION:
An Energy crisis is any great bottleneck (or price rise) in the supply of energy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place. Energy runs machinery in factories, lights our cities and powers our vehicles. There has been an enormous increase in the demand for energy as a result of industrial development and population growth. Supply of energy is, therefore, far less than the actual demand.
Energy crisis, extremism and the taxation system are some of the basic hurdles in the way of foreign investment inPakistan. The crisis often has effects on the rest of the economy, with many recessions being caused by an energy crisis in some form. In particular, the production costs of electricity rise, which raises manufacturing costs. Electricity Crisis inPakistanis one of the severe challenges the country is facing today.
Electricity is essential part of our daily life and its outage has severely affected the economy and overall living of ours.
Electricity is essential part of our daily life and its outage has severely affected the economy and overall living of ours. Thousands have lost their jobs, businesses; our daily life has become miserable. Energy resources have depleted! Whatever resources are available are simply too expensive to buy or already acquired by countries which had planned and acted long time ago. Delayed efforts in the exploration sector have not been able to find sufficient amounts of energy resources. The use of energy from 1965 to 2005 in Pakistanis shown in the graph below.
Now I am coming to my point to explain which is
REASONS OF ELECTRICITY CRISIS INPAKISTAN?
The purpose of this study is to analyze the nature of this crisis due to some short-term as well as long-term problems.
This study is exploratory in nature. I have done my best to sketch up some hurdles.
My study finds some major wholes in our system if they are covered up we can not only overcome the deficiency of electricity in our systems butPakistanhas been facing an unprecedented energy crisis since the last few years. The problem becomes more severe during summers. However, this winter was no different. During the peak crisis there was a power outage of 3-4 hours everyday. Those without generators and UPS faced tremendous problems. The prices of both continued to increase due to a sharp increase in their demand.
Almost two years ago the WAPDA chairman who happens to be a caretaker minister admitted that WAPDA cannot meet the current demand for electricity. It’s surprising that such a senior and experienced person took so long. We can be able to export it to our neighboring countries.The load shedding-driven sleepless nights and disrupted daily routines of last summer are still haunting the people as the weather turns hot. The situation has not improved since last year; indeed all the signs are that it is getting worse. Credit goes to brave Pakistanis for surviving through the winter despite 10-hour power and gas load shedding. But in the upcoming summer when the mercury is going to consistently hover round 40°C, occasionally rising to 50°C in some places, a power crisis of a similar order is going to prove unbearable. Last summer the national media reported tragic deaths due to heatstroke and dehydration. The energy crisis in winter forced thousands of industries to shut down operations, affecting industrial production and the livelihoods of thousands of families.
Giving details of projects, the sources said Malakand-lll (81MW), Pehur (18MW) and combined cycle power plant at Faisalabad(450MW) are planned to be commissioned during the year 2007. Mangla Dam raising project would also add 150 MW capacities to the national grid by June 2007. Besides this, Khan Khwar (72MW), Allai Khwar (121MW), Duber Khwar (130MW) and Kayal Khwar (130MW) are expected to be completed in 2008 along with Golan Gol (106MW) and Jinnah (96MW). Moreover, Matiltan (84MW), New Bong Escape (79MW) and Rajdhani (132MW) are expected by 2009 while Taunsa (120MW) is likely to be completed by 2010. .
Sources say WAPDA has also planned to install a high efficiency combined cycle power plant at Baloki (450MW), which is expected to be completed by 2010. In addition of these, power plant 1 & 2 of 300 MW each at Thar Coal with the assistance of China are also planned for commissioning in 2009, sources said. Moreover, efforts are also under way with China National Nuclear Corporation for the construction of a third nuclear power plant with a gross capacity of 325 MW at Chashma, they added.
When contacted, a WAPDA official said there is no power shortage in the country at present as the Authority still has over 1,000 MW surplus electricity. However, he admitted that the shortage may occur in the year 2012 and onward and said the Authority will utilize all options including running of IPPs plant at full capacity to avert any possible crisis. About the system augmentation to bring down line losses, the official said the Authority would spend Rs 3.5 billion on augmentation of distribution lines this fiscal while another Rs 5 billion will be consumed on transmission lines. “We have been negotiating Rs 9 billion loan with a consortium of local banks to upgrade and augment the power transmission system,” he disclosed.[4] The official further said that five new transmission lines of 220-KV would be installed by the end of 2010, that would ensure smooth supply to the consumers. He expressed full trust on present transmission and distribution system and said it could easily sustain the load of total installed power generation in the country. But we still don’t see any thing in this regard and there is no progress in the situation is going more and more complex.
Government is not taking interest in other modern ways to produce electricity they just concentrating on building the dams to produce hydro electricity. Considering the indispensability of energy — since 1947, per capita electricity dependence in Pakistanhas grown 82-fold — the current state of affairs can be regarded as a ‘national crisis’. The quickest and pragmatic solution — multi-gigawatt capacity addition based on local coal and hydropower — will require at least 2-3 years (5-7 years for hydropower) provided that bold and concerted steps are taken on a war footing.
Then in Pakistan there is no use of the coal which is present a lot in mines of Baluchistan according to a report if Pakistan utilizes its coal for the purpose of thermal energy and produce its electricity by this mean then its enough for the upcoming generations that the Pakistan is able to produce its own electricity and can export it too but the government is using the short term policies and thinking to import it.
Coal Thar
Another cause for this crisis is the loans of IMF which is taken by the government and now they are bound by IMF policies and they have to follow it otherwise they would suffer a lot. For exampleChinais ready to provide the wind plants toPakistanandPakistanis blessed with a large resource of wind corridor. This is also a cheap source of electricity butPakistanis bounded by the policies of IMF and can’t sign contract with china to provide it wind electricity.
Wind turbine
Another problem is the Provincial prejudices and politics into view, the matters which are indispensable for the survival of the country. The clashes between the provinces and the establishment of new dams is a problem in this regard especially kalabagh dam in khaibar pakhtun khuwa. These programs are delaying to produce sufficient electricity for its people.
According to a survey report near about 10,000 citizens gave their opinion as the question was asked that can the government overcome the electricity crisis in Pakistan. The results are shown in the diagram given below.
These results show that how many people have confidence that the government can’t overcome the crisis but in my point of view there are some solutions or suggestions through which we can overcome the problems. These suggestions are given below.
SLOUTIONS TO OVERCOME THE CRISIS INPAKISTAN?
There are so many solutions to overcome the crisis some of them are;
- Pakistanis the second country in the world blessed with the largest coal deposits which called for an urgent need to utilize the valuable natural resource for the generation of electricity coal diesel. According to a survey report a 1kg of coal can generate 1KWHR of electricity if it is not in a pure form and if it in pure form then it can generate 5KWHR electricity.So government should concentrate firstly on thermal energy because of high quantity present in the country i.e. inBaluchistan.
- Pakistanis also blessed with the wind and there is a sufficient wind level for the generation of electricity with the help of wind turbines which is also offered by aChinastate company. With this investment, and also adding up the efforts made by Wapda (Water and Power Development Authority) and the other IPPs (independent power producers), I think this will finally resolve the problems of Pakistani power shortages in the next 10 years.
- Another solution to cope with the problem of electricity crisis is the categorical change in the pattern of energy consumption. The current energy consumption trends inPakistanare extremely inefficient, whether it be in the domestic, industrial, trade or commercial sectors. With minimal effort, well over ten per cent of national electricity can be saved by applying only the first level of energy conservation that is a change in attitude. It is simple, instant and effective and all it requires is a stop to using energy unnecessarily. Leaving lights and home appliances on even when they are not being used is a common practice in our society. Similarly, many businesses such as shops dealing in cloth and garments, jewellery, cosmetics, home appliances and electronics are usually extravagantly. A further economy of 10-15 per cent can be achieved by introducing the second level of energy-conservation practices. With the help of effective electronic and print media campaigns the government can quickly educate the masses.
- Another solution is a change in lifestyles. It would begin with the acknowledgement that the country is facing a national disaster and every citizen has to pitch in to overcome it. The nation has to draw a clear line between necessities (lighting, fans, TVs, computers, etc) and luxuries (air conditioners, microwaves, etc). There is not enough electricity to meet both requirements. We should utilize daylight as possible, and our government has already taken steps about it. An early start and early end is recommended rather than having opening hours from afternoon until late at night. Air-conditioning, usually a sign of a luxurious lifestyle, needs to be ped.
- Pakistanis rich in hydro resources of energy. According to an estimate the country has enough resources to generate approximately 40000 mw of hydro-electricity. However, presently it only generates 8000 mw of electricity against an installed capacity of 11327 mw. So the government should have to upgrade the hydro power projects already working in the country so that we can meet the shortage of electricity as soon as possible.
Another solution in this regard is nuclear energy and at present PAEC produces 472 mw. It is far less than what PAEC should have been producing to meet the energy deficit. So there should be a proper way to obtain the nuclear electricity with the established nuclear power plants.
CONCLUSION
I have concluded that the energy crisis especially electricity crisis is just because of
- Using old sources to generate the electricity in the modern world.
- Improper policies of the government ofPakistanregarding the up gradation of the power plants working in the country to generate electricity.
- Sign agreement with the countries which are giving cheap ways to produce electricity likeChina.
- There should be long term policies like to produce electricity with the help of thermal plants with the help of coal present in the mines in a large quantity.
- People must have a sense to use he electricity and don’t waste it.
The problem is not so much large as much shown by the government just we need proper planners in the relevant field to help out the government to get rid of this problem and this will be possible if there is a sense of responsibility to the work which they had assigned.
Written By Muhammad Ali Khan:<khan_makali@yahoo.com>
Edited By Mobeen Malik:
2 Responses to Energy Crises in Pakistan And its Solution