Pakistan’s New Dilemma: Too Much Electricity
Pakistan is faced with a new dilemma, electricity generation in the country is exceeding its required capacity.
After years of electricity shortages and power outbreaks that have left people plunging into the darkness, disrupting work and livelihood, Pakistan is faced with a new dilemma, electricity generation in the country is exceeding its required capacity. In other words, we are producing excessive electricity.
Large-scale construction of new power plants, mainly funded by China has drastically increased the energy capacity of the country causing us to have more power than we actually require. These have been credited to the coal and gas-fired plants financed by the Belt and Road Initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. According to Tabish Gauhar, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan (SAPM) for the power sector, Pakistan is to have 50% more electricity by the year 2023.
However, having excessive electricity is also problematic for Pakistan because the government has to adhere to the contracts that have been signed and pay producers even when they do not generate.
The government is in the middle of talks with producers to end existing agreements, lower tariffs, and terminate new projects to contain the issue. “We have a lot of expensive electricity and that is a burden,” Gauhar said.
Moreover, even after the surplus production, electricity is still not accessible to 50 million people, who are in dire need of it. The problem is of transmission lines, which leaves many major cities in the dark, and thus it essential for us to supply cheaper power along with keeping emissions in check.
Simon Nicholas, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis confirms this, he claims that the officials “have not invested in the grids the same way they’ve invested in power plants.
While the new power plants have also boosted coal generation to a record fifth of the power mix, Pakistan plans to increase the share of wind and solar to 30%, while another 30% will be generated from dams. Finally, the government aims to delay about 10 gigawatts worth of future power projects as there won’t be any need for the next year.
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