Experts urge optimum use of existing power plants
Seminar highlights use of existing resources, mitigating issues.
ISLAMABAD:
A seminar titled ‘Towards an ideal fuel mix for Pakistan: streamlining the priorities’ was held on Friday in which energy experts emphasised the need for focusing on indigenous resources for power generation to solve the energy crisis in Pakistan.
The seminar was organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) here on Friday, said a press release issued by the institute. It was addressed by former secretary of Water and Power Mirza Hamid Hassan and IPS Chairman Tawanai (energy) Programme Dr Muhammad Bilal Khan. A number of energy experts and government functionaries participated in the session.
Dr Khan stressed on enhancing efficiency for optimum usage of power plants possessed by the country before installation of new ones. He mentioned that the current capacity of installed power plants in Pakistan was 21,000 megawatts (MW) while the peak consumption was around 14,000. But due to mismanagement, lack of maintenance and issues relating to circular debt, the capacity has never been fully utilised.
He feared that if governance issues were not resolved, all new projects being installed by the present government will meet a similar fate as that of the existing ones due to persistent issues of maintenance, protocols, and energy waste management.
“Energising our own reserves and exploiting them optimally is the only way out,” he said, referring to a recent study conducted jointly by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) and the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), according to which more than 360 million barrels of explored oil was still waiting to be extracted.
He also advocated exploiting the immense indigenous potential of ethanol, bio-diesel and coal-to-diesel conversion. According to him, the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) had already taken an initiative by installing the first plant in Pakistan, which has successfully started converting coal into diesel a few weeks ago.
Hassan said that an ideal fuel mix for any country would depend on its own indigenous capacity and natural resources.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2014.
A seminar titled ‘Towards an ideal fuel mix for Pakistan: streamlining the priorities’ was held on Friday in which energy experts emphasised the need for focusing on indigenous resources for power generation to solve the energy crisis in Pakistan.
The seminar was organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) here on Friday, said a press release issued by the institute. It was addressed by former secretary of Water and Power Mirza Hamid Hassan and IPS Chairman Tawanai (energy) Programme Dr Muhammad Bilal Khan. A number of energy experts and government functionaries participated in the session.
Dr Khan stressed on enhancing efficiency for optimum usage of power plants possessed by the country before installation of new ones. He mentioned that the current capacity of installed power plants in Pakistan was 21,000 megawatts (MW) while the peak consumption was around 14,000. But due to mismanagement, lack of maintenance and issues relating to circular debt, the capacity has never been fully utilised.
He feared that if governance issues were not resolved, all new projects being installed by the present government will meet a similar fate as that of the existing ones due to persistent issues of maintenance, protocols, and energy waste management.
“Energising our own reserves and exploiting them optimally is the only way out,” he said, referring to a recent study conducted jointly by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) and the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), according to which more than 360 million barrels of explored oil was still waiting to be extracted.
He also advocated exploiting the immense indigenous potential of ethanol, bio-diesel and coal-to-diesel conversion. According to him, the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) had already taken an initiative by installing the first plant in Pakistan, which has successfully started converting coal into diesel a few weeks ago.
Hassan said that an ideal fuel mix for any country would depend on its own indigenous capacity and natural resources.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2014.