Renewable retreat

The main reason for the country’s energy crisis is the lack of financial resources and the dependence of electricity production on the most expensive sources such as oil and gas. In the early days of Pakistan, it was decided that we would take advantage of our many large rivers and build hydroelectric dams, which would also help with irrigation.

However, our hydropower resources have failed to keep up with the rise in energy demand over the years. Hydroelectricity accounted for 60.1 per cent of our total power generation in 1978, by 2021 this figure had fallen to 26.9 per cent. We are actually moving backwards in terms of renewable energy and, thus, in terms of resolving the energy crisis.

Khalida Khalid

Turbat