Anyone who has ever lived or visited Pakistan knows that the country is no stranger to power outages and load shedding. In fact, in 2007, the load shedding accounted for 14.6 tWh and by 2011, it had increased to 34.9 TWh. And in 2022, the overall energy shortage reached 5,000 megawatts, reaching critical levels. Considering the stats, the consistent country-wide power outages almost seem inevitable, instead of a surprise. However, the question that everyone is asking is why is the country not keeping up with the rising demands.
Load shedding is the easiest and the most efficient way to save up on energy and distribute it to sectors that require it. All 3rd world countries employ it as a way to keep the main operations running. However, when it comes to Pakistan, especially in the past decade, the hours seem to keep increasing on a daily basis and reached an average of 16 hours a day. Actions against this were taken by the former PM, Shahid Khan Abbasi, and the hours decreased to 3.5 hours a day. However, in the span of eight years, three major, country-wide, power outages have occurred. The most recent was the one that took place on the 23rd of January, 2023.
Apart from the paralysis of all the people’s lives suffered due to this outage, Pakistan underwent a massive monetary and economic loss. So why did this power outage occur in the first place?
How Does Load Shedding and Power Outage Affect the Economy?
The economy of a country depends largely on its industrial sector. Whether it is the manufacturing industry or the construction industry, healthcare or any other industry, each one of them requires a continuous power supply to run effectively. However, load shedding and power outages can hinder the smooth working process of such industries. This can ultimately lead to reduced productivity, lower output, increased costs, and lost revenue.
That’s exactly what the recent nationwide power outage did to the economy of Pakistan. It was an unfortunate addition to the already struggling economy of the state. According to an estimate, the electricity crisis has inflicted a $70 million loss from the textile industry, which is the largest export industry of Pakistan. Though some major textiles own their power plants, a majority of textile mills rely on state-owned power distribution. So, in case of power outages, textile mills use alternative sources of energy such as generators, which are highly expensive to operate. This results in increased production costs and, consequently, profit margin decreases. The entire industrial sector is similarly affected by blackouts.
In the long term, power outages can lead to decreased investment and economic growth. Companies may be less likely to invest in regions that are prone to power outages, which can lead to a decline in economic activity and job creation. Additionally, frequent power outages can damage infrastructure and equipment, leading to higher maintenance costs and lower efficiency.
Why Did the Power Outage Occur?
In Pakistan, power outages have been a persistent problem for many years. That’s because it has been facing a severe energy crisis due to a lack of investment in the energy sector, inefficient power plants, and transmission and distribution losses. The government has failed to take appropriate measures to address this issue, such as investing in new power plants and improving the transmission and distribution systems. As a result, power outages continue to occur from time to time, particularly during times of high demand.
The national grid of Pakistan is the electricity transmission system of the country. It comprises power stations, power lines, and electricity infrastructure. It was established in the mid-1900s which makes it pretty long in the tooth. Neglect at the government’s end, i.e lack of maintenance and investment, failure in the establishment of a new grid, etc., has worsened its condition, even more, over time.
But a nationwide power outage of around 20 hours left everyone shocked. It was said that a voltage surge in a grid station in Sindh led to a technical fault, because of which, the electricity was switched off across the country. Authorities went into action to fix the problem, and after about 20 to 24 hours, power restoration was successfully made possible in all cities, one by one.
Probability of nationwide blackouts happening again
The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted the supply of energy resources to the world. Pakistan’s amongst such countries whose import of fossil fuels has been affected by the war. Besides, most of Pakistan’s oil and gas reserves have been consumed and the falling economy might make the imports of fossil fuels tenfold difficult in near future. All these factors seem to increase the probability of nationwide power outages happening again in Pakistan. However, if the government takes the necessary steps to upgrade the power sector, the chances of blackout can be reduced. It can be a challenging process but can be done by reducing the reliance on non-renewable energy resources and investing in power generation through renewable energy resources. Furthermore, establishing energy storage systems can be really helpful too for avoiding such blackouts in future.
Reasons Behind the Poor Management
Financial, judicial and moral corruption, the absence of a proper accountability process, political instability and failure in implementing the rule of law has affected every sector in Pakistan. All these primary issues give birth to many other problems that make every citizen suffer.
The flaws of this decayed system are becoming more and more apparent with every passing day in the forms of economic crisis, inflation, load shedding and country-wide blackouts. Everyone is busy blaming others and no one’s ready to take responsibility, step ahead and fix the loopholes. If these practices continue to prevail, things can get even worse.
Conclusion
Authorities must work on the maintenance of the national grid and the power sector must be invested in. Besides, alternative energy resources should be introduced. For example, solar panels can be used for generating power because it is an inexpensive yet convenient method. The concept of the use of solar energy to generate power can be implemented on an individual level as well as a state level.
In addition to generating electricity from water, wind, gas and coal, the establishment of solar power plants can help in the production of electricity and meet the consumers’ needs. The greater the sources of power generation, the better will the distribution of electricity become in the country. And, ultimately, the industrial sector will progress, benefiting the economy of the country and each of its citizens.
