Electricity / Electricity production

Electricity production

• Electricity - production: 88.42 TWh (2005)
• Electricity - production by source (2003)
  • fossil fuel: 63.7% of total
  • hydro: 33.9% of total
  • nuclear: 2.4% of total

Last week's reports of Pakistan's electricity producers seeking a parity in returns for both domestic and foreign investors is indicative of one of the key unresolved issues in overseeing a surge in electricity generation when the country faces growing shortages.

For years, the matter of balancing Pakistan's supply against the demand for electricity has remained a largely unresolved matter. Pakistan faces a significant challenge in revamping its network responsible for the supply of electricity.

While the government claims credit for overseeing a turnaround in the economy through a comprehensive recovery, it has just failed to oversee a similar improvement in the quality of the network for electricity supply.

Some officials even go as far as claiming that the frequent power cuts across Pakistan today are indicative of an emerging prosperity as there is fast rising demand for electricity. And yet, the failure to meet the demand is indeed indicative of a challenge to that very prosperity.