An insight into Pakistan Energy Mix

Pakistan is producing very limited percentage of oil  to meet  the overall demand of the country. The indigenous oil production is somehow constrained by a number of  technological , technical and financial constraints. Quite obviously this necessitates  import oo oil and other oil products in large quantities  to meet significant  share of  the total demand..

Latest data  now available from source s concerned in somewhat belated manner indicates  that import bill of oil had increased by as much as 95.9 per cent  to US $ 27.03 billion during July-April FY2022 compared to US $ 8.69 billion  during the same period last year. Higher prices in the international market  and massive depreciation of Pakistani rupee was making oil  more expensive, triggering external sector pressure  and widening trade deficit  pf the country. The surge in oil  import bill is attributed by the sources concerned  to increase  in value as well as increase in demand as the import of petroleum  products went up by 121.15 per cent in value and 24.18 per cent in quantity. The crude oil import rose by 75.34 per cet  in value and 1.4 per cent in quantity during the period under review. Similarly, liquefied natural gas  also witnessed  an increase  of 82.90 per  cent  in value while liquefied petroleum as (LPG) imports  also  jumped up  by 39.86 per cent during July-April FY2022.

The scarce natural gas reserves of the country are also rapidly depleting due to substantial increase  for gas ,putting huge pressure on the limited  natural gas reserves of the country.  In view of this, the federal government is looking  for both short as well as long term  alternative solutions to respond effectively  to the  substantial  energy requirements. Keeping in view the rising demand  for energy, the federal government  is focusing on to develop  new exploratory wells  to increase  the supply of natural gas. In addition to that, LNG and piped gas are also being  imported. In the FY2021, around 373 million MMBTU of LNG  worth round US $ 3.4 billion was imported. This corresponded to around 30 per cent  of the total  natural gas  consumption in the country. During July-February FY2022, 75.64 per cent gas was domestically produced while 24.36 per cent of gas was imported.

Coal is also being used for electricity generation  in Pakistan.. That has the largest coal reserves  in the country which has been actively  developed  in the recent years. The first That plant, having capacity of 660 MW became operational in the first  quarter of FY2020. Currently, the overall electricity generation from coal has reached to  5280 MW. Thar coal is contributing   1320 MW while imported coal contribution  in the electricity  generation is 3960 MW which is around  75 per cent of the total electricity generation from coal  in the country. Electricity generation  configuration  

is relying heavily  on the imported  coal and the trend is likely to change as  units based on the Thar field are being added to the electricity generation mix.

Pakistan is very rich in hydropower and has the enormous potential to generate electricity from water. The estimated total potential of Pakistan  is around 60,000 MG. The country is not utilizing  full potential and using only nearly  16 per cent of the total hydropower potential. The high investment cost  for the installation of hydroplants , development of electricity transmission network  and resettlement of the affected population  are few reasons doe hydropower  not being exploited  to its full capacity. Currently ,  the hydro installed  capacity is 10251 MW which is around  25 per cent of the total installed  capacity.

Pakistan has wind corridors as well and there is huge potential  to generate electricity from wind. It is estimated that Pakistan can generate 50,000 MW from wind. The contribution of wind  in the total installed capacity is 4.8 per cent  and currently  stood  at 1985 MW.  The potential for solar  power in Pakistan is also high. The sunlight is available  abundantly almost throughout the country.. Currently, the capacity share of these renewable resources is very small,  but it is expected to increase  sharply, as  reflected in the Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy 2019.The installed  capacity of solar is  600 MW which is round 1.4 per cent of the total installed  capacity. Pakistan is also producing energy  from the nuclear technology whose contribution  is increasing gradually. The gross capacity of the nuclear power plants  was 2530 MW  that supplied about 7076 million units of electricity to the national grid  during July-March FY2021. The gross capacity of nuclear power plants has increased by 39 per cent and it stood at 3530 MW that  supplied   12,8855 million units of electricity  to the national grid during July-March FY2022.