Electric Dreams?

Electricity is a basic necessity in a modern, technological and fast-paced society. Without electricity, productivity becomes a key concern. Not only does extreme heat exasperate individual living conditions, it can immobilise business.

Much has been done to improve Pakistan’s global image and increase foreign investment. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) has relentlessly pursued a policy of privatisation, perhaps to the detriment of key national concerns such as power generation that possibly should have remained firmly within the domestic sphere. As problems with electricity supply and consumption escalate and spiral out of control, a national crisis is looming on the horizon unless swift measures can be taken to prevent Pakistan from further haemorrhaging.

The Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited (KESC), principally engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy to industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential consumers, was incorporated in 1913. The company was licensed to provide service to Karachi and its’ suburbs. The GOP seized control of KESC by acquiring a majority shareholding in 1952. Amidst wide-spread disapproval, privatisation of KESC was finalised in November 2005 with the transfer of the GOP’s 73% shareholding to a private consortium. Although armed with an objective to modernise the infrastructure and operations of the company and make it a profitable entity within two years, the new owners have done nothing to alleviate the escalating energy crisis facing the inhabitants of Karachi. In fact since privatisation occurred, breakdowns in power and load-shedding have become an ever more frequent occurrence.

Stories of the woes of the Karachi populace began to surface, as far back as April 2006 and instantaneously became a staple headline news story in the national press. Scores of people were forced to contend with day long interruptions in electricity distribution and suffered under the sweltering heat and humidity, with no respite in sight. Complaints were lodged against KESC which fell on deaf ears. In June 2006, as Karachi, the commercial hub of Pakistan was brought to a standstill, violent protests and riots ensued when the disgruntled and the enraged took to the streets. Karachi had yet again found itself a victim to superfluous violence but tragically, on this occasion it was simply a sad, primal act to enforce a basic primal right.

The disruption caused by the insufficient supply of electricity causing power fluctuations and power loss, has slowly reverberated across the whole of Pakistan and in the months that have passed, it seems that a resolution to this debacle is still yet to be found. On September 24, 2006, a technical fault created a domino effect that caused power trips across the national grid resulting in a nationwide blackout for the most part of the day. The power loss had even sparked outrageous rumours that Pakistan was in the midst of a coup d’état.

A simple economic fact is that when demand exceeds supply, this creates a shortfall. Whether or not the Government should have been more astute to realise that a shortfall in electricity supply was an eventuality especially in hot summer months unless power supply was increased, apportioning blame upon the Government is not necessarily a path worth venturing upon and such action rarely bears fruit. A better use of time and energy would be to seek a long term resolution to the unrelenting crisis. KESC has unveiled plans to construct a 1000 MW power generation plant, along with 14 new grid stations in Karachi to help mitigate electricity shortages. The company is further considering the initiation of an energy conservation programme. The Government itself has unveiled plans to set up new thermal plants and new power projects to meet growing energy requirements.

Pakistan needs to progress from a nation constantly on the back foot - solving problems that have imploded and spiraled out of control - to a country that can prevent such calamities from happening altogether.

One avenue that may be explored by the GOP is the increased production of nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants in Pakistan barely contribute to 2.3% of the total electricity generated in the power plants of Wapda, KESC and Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The US and UK - which had put brakes on new nuclear power projects - are now in the process of reviving their nuclear power programmes because they cannot afford to forego the economic advantages of cheap, reliable energy produced by modern nuclear plants.

Further, Pakistan has a hot climate and sunlight in abundance – a fact which can be positively redirected. Most renewable forms of energy, other than geothermal and tidal power, ultimately derive their power from solar energy. The advantages of solar energy include the inexhaustible supply of energy and zero emissions of greenhouse gas and air pollutants.

A recent study by the United Nations Environment Programme has also highlighted wind power as an option for generating electricity in third world countries. Wind power is one of the few energy sources that contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas, as it removes energy directly from the atmosphere without producing net emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.

Although renewable energy technology may be costly (particularly for developing countries), the present lack of electrification is not only precluding industrial activities but is contributing to poverty concerns. Renewable energy-based electrification may hold a legitimate appeal as a potentially cleaner energy path that will allow developing countries to achieve sustainable development.