Renewable energy sources in power generation in Pakistan

Pakistan, as an underdeveloped and populous country requires an uninterrupted source of energy to keep its development on track and provide its citizens with a reasonable standard of living. Conversely, the country is unable to fulfil its domestic energy requirements and is undergoing an acute energy crisis. Electricity is a sector that has suffered the most from the energy shortages. The gap between demand and supply is met through blackouts and, at times, the country plunges into darkness for more than 10-12 h a day. This crisis, that the country is currently facing, did not occur overnight. The root cause of this debacle goes back in history and can be attributed to decades of mismanagement, poor planning and negligence. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the electricity sector in Pakistan and the issues it is beset with. In addition, an analysis of the energy policies that the country has announced over the years, as well as the impact that they have had on the electricity sector, is presented. It is concluded that Pakistan's existing energy mix is not sustainable due to the excessive reliance on imported fossil fuels, rising electricity generation cost and increase in power generation related emissions. This paper develops a roadmap and proposes the energy sources that can fulfil the country's rising energy requirements, whilst being sustainable at the same time. The roadmap identifies and highlights the primary tasks that the country must undertake to reach its vision of meeting its energy needs and integrating renewable energy sources in the power generation. The recommendations of this paper will provide guidelines to the decision-makers and policymakers, with an insight on how the energy technology and resource development should be carried out, which sources should be given priority and how the issues should be resolved, both in the short and long-term. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.