Daily Times

Energy is critical for development of industrial and agriculture production of Pakistan. It is the basic component that drives the economy of every country in the world. Over the past few years, Pakistan has increased its production capacity to counter energy shortages and the situation, in terms of generation capacity, has improved considerably. However, there are still issues of infrastructure, efficiency and disproportionate energy mix which warrant immediate attention of the government. It is added here that the new added generation capacity over the last few years is primarily fossil fuel based and there is a need to achieve balance in Pakistan’s energy mix which should aim at promoting economic growth and prosperity in an environmentally sustainable way. Pakistan is a country well gifted with sustainable/alternate energy potential. There are huge prospects for exploiting Alternative and Renewable Energies (AREs) to increase country’s generation capacity and meeting electricity demand in a sustainable way. Being indigenous, clean and economic source of energy in the long run and having short gestation period, AREs are considered most viable options for electricity generation. The most viable ARE resource options in Pakistan include wind, solar, biomass/waste-to-energy and geo-thermal. These resources can be tapped for generation of electricity. This renders huge prospects for development of renewable energy resources in the country to meet ever increasing energy needs.

The demand for energy continues to grow around the world. Countries are using diverse resources to produce and distribute power to consumers. Recent figures indicate that countries meet as much as 80% of their energy requirement from fossil fuels i.e. oil, natural gas and coal. The remaining 20% needs are met by nuclear (5.8%), hydro(2.5%), wind, solar, bio fuel, wood and biogas, commonly referred to as Green and Sustainable energy (GSE), also called renewable energy (RE) (10.8%). The use of different sources to generate electricity is referred to as “energy mix”. Over the last five years there has been a strong shift from use of fossil fuels to GSE/RE for power generation with nearly two-thirds of new generation investment going in GSE/RE. However, in case of Pakistan, situation is not very promising.

Pakistan is blessed with a high potential of renewable energy resources, but so far, only large hydro-electric projects and few wind and solar projects have harnessed this potential

According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2019-20, at the end of fiscal year the share of renewable in the energy mix stood painstakingly low at 2.4%. In fact, the share of nuclear energy is more than double at 8.2%. The task before the current government is tough. It is very difficult for it to shake up the energy mix immediately. But it is expected that when the government ends its five-year term in mid-2023, the country’s energy mix will be looking better. The world at large is aspiring to achieve faster economic growth in this century with emphasis on renewable energy.

Pakistan energy situation is seriously troubling today due to lack of careful planning and implementation of its energy policies. To avoid the worse situation in the years ahead, the country will have to exploit its huge natural renewable resource. On average solar global insulation 5-7 kWh/m2/day, wind speed 5-7.5 m/s, Biogas 14 million  m3/day, micro Hydel more than 600 MW (for small units) with persistency factor of more than 80% over a year exist in the country. Pakistan aims at achieving 5-6% of its total on grid electricity supply from renewable (excluding large hydropower) by 2030.

Pakistan is blessed with a high potential of renewable energy resources, but so far, only large hydro-electric projects and few wind and solar projects have harnessed this potential. Renewable Energy accounts for 1925 MW presently installed capacity of solar PV, wind and biomass based power projects. Possibilities also exist in promoting greater use of wind, solar and biomass project. Pakistan has a potential for wind energy especially in the southern coast and coastal Baluchistan. The wind speed is on average 7-8m/s at some sites along the Keti Bandar-Gharo corridor. In the southern regions of Sindh and Baluchistan, the technical potential of wind power is high along the 1,000 km of coastline where wind speeds range between 5 and 7m/s. The potential capacity for wind energy is estimated at 122.6 GW per year, more than double of the country’s current power generation level. The solar potential is estimated to be over 100,000.

Environmental and economic benefits of using renewable energy include generation of energy that produces no green house gas emissions from fossil fuels and reduces some types of air pollution and environment friendly, diversifying energy supply and reducing dependence on imported fuels and creating economic development and jobs.

40% of the world population lives in the area comprising China, India and Pakistan. China and India are considered as responsible for GHG emissions and climatic changes because of their Industrial base. What happens with China’s green energy transition has broader significance in the global climate fight, given that the country is the world’s largest emitter of green house gases. With its renewable energy growth slowing and its fossil fuel use rising, analysts fear that China’s emissions may not level off by 2030, the target set in the Paris Climate Agreement, which would be a significant setback for efforts to slow global warming. Renewable energy proponents are now seeking to avert a continued slowdown in China’s alternative energy sector and spark new green energy growth.

Though China is the largest clean energy market in the world, wind and solar only accounted for 5.2 percent and 2.5percent of China’s national power generation in 2018,” says Mr. Kevin Tu, former China program manager at the International Energy Agency and now a fellow with the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. “Against the back drop of an ongoing U.S.-China trade war and a slowing Chinese economy, political priority of climate change in China is unlikely to become very high in the near future, indicating great difficulties for Beijing to further upgrade its climate ambitions.

India is one of the countries with large production of energy from renewable sources. As of March 2020, 35.86% of India’s installed electricity generation capacity is from renewable sources, generating 21.22% of total utility electricity in the country.

In the Paris Agreement, India has committed to an Intended Nationally Determined Contributions target of achieving 40% of its total electricity generation from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. The Government of India has set a target of installing of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by the year 2022, which includes 100GW from solar, 60GW from wind, 10GW from bio-power and 5GW from small hydro-power.

In Pakistan twenty four (24) wind power projects of 1236.1 MW cumulative capacity have achieved Commercial Operation and are supplying electricity to National Grid, while twelve (12) wind projects with accumulative capacity of 610 MW have achieved Financial Closing and are under construction. Six (06) solar power projects of 430MW capacity are operational and eight (08) companies’/sugar mills having a cumulative capacity of 259.1 MW have achieved Commercial Operations Date (COD) and are operational on Biomass (To be concluded).

Saud Bin Ahsen has done MPA from Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS) Lahore and can be reached at saudzafar5@gmail.com