CSS Current Affairs | Steps Taken by Pakistan to Ease Energy Crisis
The following question of CSS Pakistan Affairs is solved by Tehreem Zafar under the supervision of Howfiv’s Current Affairs and Pakistan Affairs Coaches. She learnt how to attempt 20 marks question and essay writing from Sir Syed Kazim Ali, Pakistan’s best CSS and PMS English essay and precis teacher with the highest success rate of his students. This solved past paper question is attempted on the pattern taught by Sir to his students, scoring the highest marks in compulsory and optional subjects for years, and uploaded to help aspirants understand how to crack a topic or question, how to write relevantly, what coherence is, and how to include and connect ideas, opinions, and suggestions to score the maximum.
Outline
1- Introduction
2- A cursory glance at the ongoing energy crisis in Pakistan
- ✓According to the International Energy Agency (IEA),” In the last 9 months, the energy cost of Pakistan has doubled, which costs almost 15 billion USD”.
3- Positive steps being taken in Pakistan to curb energy crisis
Steps taken at the national level:
- ✓the National Energy Efficiency & Conservation (NEEC) Policy of 2023
- Evidence: To elaborate, the NEEC policy is designed to meet the target of nine Million Tons of Oil Equivalent (MTOE) energy-supply, reaching Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) # 7- which aims to give access to affordable energy- by 2030.
- ✓the Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy of 2019
- Evidence: To illustrate, as mentioned in the policy document, the 2019 energy policy has envisioned 20% generation of energy through ARE technologies by 2025.
Steps taken at the international level:
- ✓The PakStream Gas Pipeline Project (PSGP) of 2021
- Evidence: As an illustration, the signing and construction agreement between Pakistan and Russia began in 2021, with an estimated investment of $18Bn by Russia.
- ✓The Central Asia South Asia Power Project (CASA-1000)
- Evidence: As an evidence, Pakistan has the full potential to deal not only with its energy needs but also enhance regional connectivity with its 51% completion
4- Critical Analysis
5- Conclusion
Answer to the Question
Introduction
Nothing hampers a country’s socio-economic affairs the way the energy crisis does as energy is the backbone of all human activities. In today’s fast-paced world, the energy crisis is the most pressing concern in developing countries. The reason behind it is that the activities ranging from trade to transport are all energy-dependent. However, the crisis of energy affects the regularity of societal and fiscal dealings. In particular, in Pakistan, the energy crisis has been a major problem for the country’s residents for the past few years. To expand the point, it is the result of the negligence of the governments coming after 2010, which made Pakistan suffer through hard turns, like burgeoning economic instability, unstoppable load shedding, and an invincible debt trap. Despite these challenges, Pakistan has managed to take certain positive measures not only on the local level but also on the global level, exemplifying various energy policies and power projects.
A cursory glance at the ongoing energy crisis in Pakistan
Presently, Pakistan has been facing the worst energy crisis in the year 2023. The problem is worsening day by day owing to many reasons, like the demand-supply gap, dependence on non-renewable energy resources, electricity theft, circular debt, poor policy planning, economic instability, and governance issues. According to Shazia Anwar Cheema, Pakistan is facing an extremely challenging winter this year as a result of the failing long-term energy policies. Also, many international factors have contributed to the energy crisis, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the inflation of crude oil from Russia. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA),”In the last 9 months, the energy cost of Pakistan has doubled, which costs almost 15 billion USD”. Hence, the country has been facing a chronic energy crisis for so long, badly impacting its socio-economic growth.
Steps taken at the national level
The National Energy Efficiency & Conservation (NEEC) Policy of 2023
To begin with, the most recent measure taken by Pakistan to overcome the energy crisis is the National Energy Efficiency & Conservation (NEEC) Policy of 2023. The latest energy policy falls under Pakistan Vision 2025, aiming to shift the country towards a conservation and sustainability culture. To elaborate, the NEEC policy is designed to meet the target of nine Million Tons of Oil Equivalent (MTOE) energy supply, reaching Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) # 7- which aims to give access to affordable energy- by 2030. Moreover, the benefits associated with the new policy include meeting the needs of the industrial sector, adopting ways towards clean energy, and reducing energy imports. Thus, the 2023 NEEC policy has the strong potential to lead Pakistan towards the development of the energy sector.
The Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy of 2019
Next to it, another positive step taken by Pakistan to combat the energy crisis is the approval of the Alternative and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy of 2019. This policy has also started to achieve the UN SDG Goal 7 by ensuring energy conversion to renewable sources like hydel and thermal energy. To illustrate, as mentioned in the policy document, the 2019 energy policy has envisioned 20% generation of energy through ARE technologies by 2025. Elaborating the stats, the energy policy has totally aimed not only at reducing energy production costs but also at shifting from imported energy resources to affordable renewable energy resources. Thus, the policy framework can lend more space to local energy-producing powers.
Steps taken at the international level
The PakStream Gas Pipeline Project (PSGP) of 2021
One of the international energy projects that Pakistan has started is the PakStream Gas Pipeline Project (PSGP). After the development of the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) with Russian support, the PSGP project became another big project that Russia started with Pakistan. The 1100 km-long venture aims to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Karachi and Gwadar to Lahore with the investment and aid of Russia. As an illustration, the signing and construction agreement between Pakistan and Russia began in 2021, with an estimated investment of $18Bn by Russia. Thus, the international gas pipeline project, with its immense geo-strategic and geo-economic benefits, is expected to be completed in 2023.
The Central Asia South Asia Power Project (CASA-1000)
Another major international energy project initiated by Pakistan is CASA-1000. The project began in 2006 with partner countries Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. The project is designed on Peak Summers and Peak Winters electricity sharing mechanism in which the two CAR countries will provide energy to Pakistan and Afghanistan from July to September, whereas both the South Asian countries will work as suppliers from October to April. As evidence, Pakistan has the full potential to deal not only with its energy needs but also enhance regional connectivity with its 51% completion. Hence, the major regional energy project has the most chance of being operationalized in 2024, demonstrating Pakistan’s positive efforts to combat the energy crisis. The table mentioned below presents the basic information about CASA-1000
| Total power trade capacity | 1300MW |
| Total electric power transmission in the CASA countries | 4262MW |
| Length of transmission lines across four CASA countries | 1387MW |
Critical Analysis
Critically analyzing the situation of the energy crisis in Pakistan, a series of factors come forth, causing great havoc in Pakistan, like the high demand-supply gap, energy leakage through transmission lines, and heavy reliance on non-renewable energy sources. As a result, the country has witnessed the ruinous effects of the energy crisis. Although the government has somehow managed to make favourable decisions, saving the country from looming issues, Pakistan still needs to work on the persistent problems of governance, such as political instability, economic crisis, and the lack of political will of political leadership. Nevertheless, if the government pays heed to the ongoing crisis, it would be not that difficult to implement the activated policies effectively and manage in-line global energy projects efficiently, ultimately building the sound image of Pakistan across the world.
Conclusion
Concluding the debate, the energy crisis lies at the heart of Pakistan, worsening its socio-economic progress. The systematic loopholes in the governance sector have lingered on the crisis. However, the governments in Pakistan have made some efforts to curb the crisis by taking positive steps, such as the latest energy policies of 2019 and 2023 toward energy security and international energy projects like PSGP and CASA-1000, to meet energy needs by collaborating with the world. In short, taking more steps like these and actively working on these measures are direly important for the development of Pakistan’s energy sector.
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