Pakistan searches for solution to power shortages

Pakistan’s electricity production was nearly 3,000 megawatts short of demand in March. The country made up the difference by turning off lights, and everything else, for several hours a day.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani after being sworn in March 25 put the “energy crisis” up with terrorism as a top issue to address during his first 100 days in office. But things will get worse before they get better, Gillani warned, with power outages increasing through June when air conditioners are turned on to beat the heat.
Pakistan is experiencing these shortages despite its miserly electricity use with per-capita consumption of 546-kilowatt hours per year, a fifth of the global average of 2,586-kilowatt hours, according to statistics from the seven-nation South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation.

The problem stems from the fact that Pakistan has failed to build new power plants to keep up with the demand for electricity.

As a result, the poor who are connected to the grid are going without during the nearly four hours of outages that are occurring per day this month. In wealthier neighbourhoods, however, the streets come alive with the sounds of generators.

The power outages have increased generator sales – and their price tags – but have also cooled sales of fans, air conditioners and other appliances with consumers asking why have such devices without the electricity to run them.

A graver concern for the economy is the outages’ effects on the industrial sector, which is Pakistan’s biggest consumer of electricity, and factories having to shut down during the outages. Police have also reported increased crime during the blackouts in bigger cities.

Economic Times