Fresh spell of rain in upper part of the country including capital, Islamabad has turned the weather pleasant. Rain also provided respite to people from Heatwave particularly in the month of Ramazan. Slight change in weather has resulted in bridging the gab of demand and supply of electricity. Prior to rain, demand was around 21,000 MW but our generating capacity was 15,500 MW. After the rains shortfall has decreased to 3000MW which helped to minimize the prolonged load-shedding timings. Issue of energy crisis is not a new one and incumbent government can not blame on the previous governments for not doing much to generate electricity. Energy is considered to be life line of any economy and most vital instrument of socioeconomic development of a country. Pakistan’s energy infrastructure is not well developed, rather it is considered to be underdeveloped and poorly managed. No serious efforts have been made to install new capacity of generation. Moreover, rapid demand growth, transmission losses due to outdated infrastructure, power theft, and seasonal reductions in the availability of hydropower have worsened the situation. If we put a glance on our energy generating capacity we would find that almost 65 percent electricity is being produced by thermal power plants. These plants run on furnace and diesel oil means cost of this electricity becomes very high but we need affordable energy. Punjab government has taken a laudable step by signing an agreement for 300 MW solar electricity project. The project is part of the 1,000 MW Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Park in Bahawalpur, the largest solar power park in the country. The project is expected to be completed by December this year. The government needs to come forward and introduce such projects. Even these small contributions can surely decrease the strain on the national power grid.
Energy resources like solid waste, biomass, wind, solar and others can be very significant to overcome the decades old energy crisis.