Energy today is a scarce commodity in Pakistan. The gap between supply and demand is swelling day by day. As a result the industrial output is touching the lowest ebb which in turn is resulting in low contribution to GDP. There are a number of factors contributing to this situation. The purpose of this paper is however not to analyse the reasons for the shortfall rather it focuses more on exploring the ways and means tar overcoming the energy crisis.
The sages say that opportunities are lying in front of you. You only have to open your eyes and see / identify them. Some may consider this crisis as a threat while others may call it a challenge but Engineering Development Board (EDB) takes it as an opportunity. To tap this opportunity, EDB chose to use the platform of Pakistan Iron & Steel Institute (PIASI) which was established by the efforts of EDB having ten founder members, all of them are private sector entrepreneurs from steel sector, PIASI was registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan with an equity of Rs. 10.00 million, all contributed by the private sector. The institute was established on the assurance of the government to contribute a matching grant which is yet to be contributed.
The PIASI meeting which was held on March 6, 2013 considered the worsening situation of gas and electricity supply to the steel sector. Various proposals far alternate sources of energy were considered to ensure smooth and uninterrupted supply of energy. EDB feels that some of the major industrial sectors like steel, ceramics, fertilizers, cement, chemicals, textile etc are the main energy guzzlers. In case these industries are switched to alternate sources of supply, it will reduce the burden on the national grid to a great extent. It is he heartening to know that most of the cement and some of the steel industries are using Chinese coal gasifiers to meet their energy requirements. However, in spite of having massive reserves of 185 billion metric ton of coal, all these industries are using imported coal. EDB now has taken the lead to contact the academia, fabricators, investors, banks and end users to collectively work on the design of new gasifier which is capable of using the local coal. As a first step the work done at various engineering universities of the country has been compiled and a seminar to be participated by all the stakeholders is planned to be organized by EDB and NUST, tentatively, in the third week of June 2013 at NUST, Islamabad. The recommendations will be immediately forwarded to the government for approval and the project will be implemented on fast track basis.