No end to loadshedding?

Pakistan has been suffering from energy crisis for about half a decade now. The power crisis is proving to be unbearable. The sad state of affairs is that despite having enormous renewable resources of energy, Pakistan has to import a huge amount of hydrocarbons from abroad to meet its energy needs. As recently as 2001, the country had 4,00MW of excess power capacity. Today, unfortunately, the situation has assumed alarming proportions.
Lopsided priorities, poor management and lack of accountability can be denoted as the reasons for dearth of energy in Pakistan. The number of consumers of electricity has now increased owing to rapid urbanisation. The facility of electricity is now provided to the remote villages. We waste a lot of energy, about 15 to 20% through poor distribution system. Industrial, transport and domestic sectors are the three important consumers of energy. It is assumed that a misplaced use of energy is rampant in industries which needs to be curtailed.
A few years back, Pakistan used to get half of its electricity from hydel power and remaining from thermal generation. However, there is a limit to the extent of exploitation of hydel resources and thermal power plants due to environmental and other concerns. Modalities for overcoming the energy crisis are multifold. To meet the challenge, there is a dire need to go to the alternate sources of energy. Some people suggest that process of converting coal into product gas underground can be a good alternate source of energy. The largest coal reserves of Pakistan exist in Thar. They need to be encashed.
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from hydroelectricity. New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels) accounted for another 3% and are growing very rapidly. The share of renewables in electricity generation is around 19%, with 16% of global electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewables. Electricity in Pakistan is generated, transmitted, distributed and retail supplied by two vertically integrated public sector utilities: Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) for all of Pakistan (except Karachi), and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) for the City of Karachi and its surrounding areas. There are around 20 independent power producers that contribute significantly to electricity generation in Pakistan.
For years, the matter of balancing Pakistan’s supply against the demand for electricity has remained a largely unresolved matter. Pakistan faces a significant challenge in revamping its network responsible for the supply of electricity. While the government claims credit for overseeing a turnaround in the economy through a comprehensive recovery, it has just failed to oversee a similar improvement in the quality of the network for electricity supply.
RABIA JAVED
Lahore