Switching to Thar Coal—Pakistan Energy Future: Specialists attending the recent seminar, “Leveraging Indigenous Coal Resources for Sustainable Energy in Pakistan,” pointedly noted the dire need of shifting from imported coal to that of Thar. This transition is considered crucial for developing stable and feasible energy security in the country of Pakistan.
Seminar Highlights Strategic Shift
Organized by the US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E) at NUST, the seminar revolved around findings from a newly released whitepaper titled, “Transition from Imported to Local Coal to Attain Energy Security in Pakistan: Opportunities & Challenges.” The author of the paper has thus argued that Pakistan must look inward by tapping into the Thar coal for its energy needs instead of continuing its mission and importing the Expensive Commodity.
The coal fields of Thar are containing huge resources that are enough to make pakistan self-reliant in energy sector.
Current estimate suggests that the reserves of coal are abundant in Pakistan—more than 185 billion metric tons—and Thar of Sindh has large amount of it. Should these reserves be managed properly, it would be able to create about 100,000 MW of electricity for more than 200 years. This would bring a significant decrease in cost of coal imported from other countries and would also help in stabilizing the energy crises in Pakistan.
Experts Discuss Strategic Benefits
The seminar consisted of the energy professionals and they discussed during the seminar that Thar coal is very crucial for diversifying energy mix of Pakistan and reducing the dependency on the imported fuels for the country’s energy security. Topics revolved around global power generation tendencies, the existing generation portfolio of Pakistan and the prospects and issues related to the use of domestic coal resources.
The event started after welcoming the participants by Dr. Adeel Waqas, the Principal USPCAS-E, NUST After that, there was a very active panel discussion with the moderation of Dr. Majid Ali of USPCAS-E.
Economic Benefits of the Coal
While speaking with the Private Power & Infrastructure Board (PPIB), Ali Nawaz, who is the Director General of Coal, supported the economic advantages of using Thar coal. He added “Pakistan has imported the coal in last 3 to 4 years worth about $6 billion and the shift towards the Thar coal could be a game changer for Pakistan’s economy. ”Nawaz further elaborated that if we look at the next 5 years the economic benefits can be spectacular where are the energy base load shifts from the imported coal to Thai coal, which has the potential to affect the basket price by PKR 2 to 3 through the conversion of three major coal plants.
Economic Sustainability: Employment Possibilities
Shahab Qader Khan, Chief Strategy Officer at K-Electric, shared his view about Thar coal and the future of sustainable development and employment. He further said that Thar Coal is at a crossroads and, if properly harnessed, can be a boon for Pakistan’s energy sector.
At the same time, Head of Projects and Business Development at Renewable Resources (Pvt) Ltd., Salman Nazir, noted that if local coal can produce cheap electricity, it is beneficial for national interests and should be used. In addition, Farrukh Ahmed, Head of Sustainability at Bestway, stated that incorporation of Thar coal in the cement sector could enhance energy efficiency and its usage also.
Call for Collaborative Efforts
There was a strong message given at the end of the seminar advocating an encouragement of the government, industrialists, and academia to exploit the indigenous coal potential of Pakistan to the optimum. The participants stressed on the need for a synergy in planning to get the most of the identified local coals for generating cheap electricity to become a sustainable Pakistani entity in the future.
Energy Security: The Way Forward
To move from the import dependency on coal to the use of indigenous Thar coal is not only economically viable but also strategically vital for Pakistan. Pakistan is capable of increasing local energy generation, decreasing its import bill of energy, and stabilizing the electricity rates to set the stage for sustainable development.
FAQs
Q1. What role does Thar coal play in Pakistan’s energy mix?
A1. This coal is very important since it helps to minimize the irrational dependence on imported coal, prevent unstable cost of energy resources, and develop economy that is sustainable.
Q2. Pakistan has identified reserves of how many trillion in Thar?
A2. Pakistan has more than one eighty five billion tones of coal in Thar which is capable to generate one hundred thousands MW electricity for over two hundred years.
Q3. What economic opportunity is associated with Thar coal for Pakistan?
A3. Switching to Thar coal is in a position to reduce import cost of the coal and electricity tariff, generate employment which is useful for the economy.
Q4. What are the challenges caused by the use of Thar coal?
A4. These are mainly in the areas of infrastructure development, investment and placement on technology as well as environmental management in the use of the Thar coal.
Q5. How does Thar coal hold potential for sustainable development?
A5. Thar coal can provide cheaper electricity, fulfill needs of local industries, for example cement industry and create employment to serve the sustainable development needs of Pakistan.