Pakistan and electricity
Pakistan, the world's fifth-largest country with a population exceeding 252 million, faces significant challenges in its electricity sector. Despite 95% of the population having access to electricity, over 40 million people remain without power, primarily in rural areas. The country relies heavily on oil and natural gas for its energy needs, although there has been a notable rise in the use of renewable energy sources since the early 2000s. As of 2023, Pakistan's installed electricity generation capacity was approximately 43.5 gigawatts, with fossil fuels accounting for 59% of this capacity.
The energy crisis in Pakistan has been exacerbated by a lack of integrated energy planning, high technical and commercial losses, and an outdated tariff structure. The demand for electricity continues to grow, driven by economic development, with energy consumption predicted to rise significantly. Efforts to address the energy shortfall have included increasing gas and oil production and enhancing the efficiency of domestic electricity usage. The government also set ambitious targets for rural electrification, although these goals have faced delays. Overall, while progress has been made, the energy sector remains under stress and in need of substantial reform and investment to meet the demands of the future.
Subject Terms
Pakistan and electricity
Official Name: Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Summary: The energy consumption for Pakistan was 14.902 million British thermal units (Btu) per person in 2022, a figure that ranked 141st in the world. The country received most of its energy from oil and natural gas, but renewable sources have been growing in use in the early twenty-first century. Although 95 percent of the nation has electricity, more than 40 million people. Most of those without power lived in areas.
Pakistan’s power system has come under increased stress because of inadequate attention over the years to augmentation and upgrading of the system and the lack of commitment to undertaking necessary institutional reforms. In 2007, there was an expected shortage of more than 1,500 megawatts of electricity in the country, and the demand and supply gap for power grew in the coming years. The system experienced high technical and commercial losses, transmission constraints, and unreliable service, and was hampered by an irrational tariff structure. This left a fragile cash- and investment-starved energy sector mired with governance problems. A key constraint in the energy sector was a serious lack of integrated energy planning to analyze and implement a consolidated plan to address the country’s energy needs.
Energy Trends
Pakistan’s energy requirements are huge. Already the world’s fifth-largest nation with an estimated population of more than 252 million people in 2024, At the same time, the country’s pace of economic development is accelerating: The gross domestic product (GDP) gradually grew between 2012 and 2023, and per capita incomes increased to an estimated $5,600 (2023).
These trends translated into rapidly escalating energy demand. In the early 2010s, Pakistan’s energy sector was hamstrung by expensive fuel prices, natural gas and electricity shortages, debt, and poor transmission and distribution systems. As a result, the nation experienced a major energy crisis. The government made an effort to solve the problem by increasing gas and oil production, increasing natural gas imports, and improving domestic electricity efficiency. By the 2020s, the nation had achieved some success in reversing the problems. In 2021, the majority of Pakistan’s energy supply came from biofuels at 31.5 percent, followed by natural gas at 29 percent. Another 19.9 percent of energy came from oil, 13.7 from coal, 3.3 from nuclear sources, and the rest from hydropower and solar.
Electricity use, in particular, grew across all sectors—industry, agriculture, domestic, and commercial—with the country producing 155,818 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity in 2021 and consuming 145,999 GWh in 2022. The installed electricity generation capacity in Pakistan in 2023 was an estimated 43.5 gigawatts, with of 59 percent coming from fossil fuels.
Increase in Energy Consumption
Pakistan’s Medium Term Development Framework for 2005–2010 (MTDF) established a challenging program with the hope of achieving an average annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 8 percent. The associated increase in energy consumption was forecast at 12 percent per annum, more than double the rate witnessed between 2000 and 2006. This strained Pakistan’s primary energy supply sources. Rising oil consumption and flat domestic production triggered rapidly increasing oil imports, while declining domestic natural gas reserves. In 2021, Pakistan imported 68.1 percent of its crude oil and 30 percent of its natural gas.
As of 2023, only 7 percent of Pakistan’s rural population did not have access to grid-supplied electricity, will 100 percent of its urban population did. The government of Pakistan had committed to electrify all remaining villages in the country by the end of 2007, either through grid extension or via alternative dispersed generation. This target was not achieved on time.
Bibliography
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