If Pakistan wants to achieve rapid socio-economic development in the 21st century, it must become self-reliant in electricity production.
By Ayoub Hameed
A World Bank’s Pakistan Energy Survey reports that 7.3 per cent of Sindh’s population lacks electricity, followed by 2.6 per cent in Balochistan, 1.0 per cent in Punjab, 0.4 per cent in Islamabad and 0.2 per cent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It also found that only 3.0 per cent of households receive 16 hours of electricity daily, while 97 per cent fall into Tier 3 or below.
Moreover, 7.3 per cent of households are classified as Tier 0, with less than four hours of electricity a day. Pakistani households also spend about $2.3 billion annually on kerosene, gas lamps and battery-powered torches. Ending electricity poverty must therefore become a national priority.
The Emissions Gap Report (2024) from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) points out that the electricity production sector produced the highest greenhouse gas emissions at 15.1 GtCO2e (gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) in 2023. Thus, electricity generation was the largest point source of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. It is crucial to point out here that reliance on nuclear power is also not a solution since it produces nuclear waste that is harmful to both humans and the environment.
Decarbonisation is the way forward for Pakistan. It is extremely important for the country to divert its economy away from fossil fuels and nuclear power and invest heavily in renewables so Pakistan could generate 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy resources. Pakistan has what it takes to produce 100 per cent electricity from clean energy sources and doing so will make the country more self-reliant and energy independent. Simultaneously, Pakistan will be in an improved position to achieve the goals outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement, fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), bend the greenhouse gas emissions curve and mitigate the consequences of climate change.
Pakistan has what it takes to make this happen. It must diversify its clean sources of electricity generation. Pakistan has already matured hydropower, windpower and solar PV sources of clean electricity generation. Now is the time for Pakistan to mature wavepower as well, so by 2035, Pakistan could produce at least 5-10 per cent of its total electricity from wavepower.
Pakistan is blessed with a brief coastline in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan that it can use to mature wavepower and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear power. Do you know that China has already been working to develop wavepower since 2023? According to The State Council of the People’s Republic of China’s website, the country has independently developed a megawatt-scale wave energy device named Nankun and has deployed it in Zhuhai in Guangdong province since 2023. Nankun is capable of producing 24,000 kilowatt-hours of clean electricity each day. It generates enough clean electricity to satisfy the demand of 3,500 households in China.
Now imagine if Pakistan, in collaboration with China, deployed four megawatt-scale wave energy devices in coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan and altogether generated 96,000 kilowatt-hours of clean electricity from wavepower each day. It would be a giant leap in maturing wavepower and would generate enough clean electricity to meet the demand of thousands of households in Sindh and Balochistan. Maturing wavepower can prove to be a much-needed step in the right direction to increase social resilience, foster economic growth, enhance renewable electricity generation and strengthen the social fabric of society in Sindh and Balochistan. We have what it takes to make this happen.
Finally, Seaturns is a French wave energy technology company that has developed a cylindrical floater capable of moving in a horizontal manner. The floater consists of a water pendulum and two air-filled chambers. When the cylindrical floater moves back and forth with the waves, it creates pressure cycles in the two air chambers with the help of a water pendulum. The resulting airflow then spins a turbine connected to a generator to generate renewable electricity.
We must do all it takes to end electricity poverty in Pakistan. As discussed earlier, the World Bank (WB) points out that 7.3 per cent of households in Pakistan have little access to electricity. The World Bank has categorised them as Tier 0, meaning they either have no access to electricity or barely have it for less than four hours a day. Unfortunately, households belonging to Tier 0 must then rely on candles, kerosene lamps and flashlights. Similarly, another 19.5 per cent of households belong to Tier 1, where they have access to electricity for at least four hours a day. Thus, close to 27 per cent of our population either has access to electricity for at least four hours a day or even less.
We must put an end to this. An increased reliance on renewable energy sources is the way forward for Pakistan. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Pakistan produced 12.8 per cent of its electricity from coal, followed by 11.4 per cent from oil, 27.7 per cent from natural gas and 17.3 per cent from nuclear power in 2023.
On the renewables side, hydropower generated 26.8 per cent of electricity and windpower produced 2.7 per cent of electricity in 2023. Biofuels produced 843 GWh of electricity, followed by solar PV, which generated another 1,077 GWh of clean electricity. The figures reported by the IEA highlight that Pakistan relies heavily on fossil fuels and nuclear power for electricity generation. It must be appreciated that Pakistan has already matured hydropower, windpower, solar PV and biofuels. Now is the time for Pakistan to focus on maturing Wavepower too.
If, by 2040, Pakistan generated 30 per cent of its electricity from hydropower, 30 per cent from solar PV and battery storage, 40 per cent from windpower and 5.0 per cent each from biofuels and wavepower, it could export surplus clean electricity or use it to decarbonise transport while ending electricity poverty. Achieving 100 per cent renewable electricity is possible if sufficient policy attention and fiscal resources are committed. The choice is ours.
