Energy

Agencies 21 Sep : Oil prices have been pushed up Tuesday following US supply tightness signals, ending days of losses as global markets remain haunted by the potential impact on China's economy of a crisis at heavily indebted property group China Evergrande.Brent crude climbed up 63 cents or 0.9% to $74.55 a barrel by 0340 GMT, after fallen of Monday, by almost 2%. The contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) that expires later on Tuesday, was up 69 cents or 1% at $70.98 after dropping 2.3% in the previous session.Global utilities are switching to fuel oil due to rising gas and coal prices, and lingering outages from the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ada that imply less supply is available, ANZ analysts said."While slowing Chinese econo...

September 21, 2021 at 1:14 pm | Economic Affairs

BY: FAIZ PARACHA The power generation in February 2019 went down by 6 percent year-on-year to 6.4 billion units – lowest in 24 months. The power demand has slowed down considerably, evident from three consecutive months of year-on-year drop in power generation. There have only been four such instances in the last 36 months. All this while, the power generation capacity has soared to nearly 31000 MW – up 6000 MW from a year ago. Hydel generation is back to the fold, constituting the biggest share of 23 percent in the generation mix – up from just 6 percent last month. Hydel’s gain is furnace oil’s loss. These two sources have shown the strongest correlation in the recent months. The load falls on FO the moment there is a...

March 20, 2019 at 3:04 pm | News Desk

The two-day long ‘Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit’ successfully concluded at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad. Over 50 international delegates participated in the event, and through various panel discussions, shared their ideas on a wide range of subjects, including, “The geo-political backdrop”, “The future of work”, “The future of diversity and inclusion”, “Future world, through responsive leadership”. The national and international delegates, and honorable guests included Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Federal Minister for Finance & Economic Affairs, Asad Umar, Federal Minister & Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Investment and Industries & Prod...

March 15, 2019 at 6:10 pm | News Desk

The US-Pakistan Center of Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E) at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) held its first graduation ceremony today.  Ninety-four students received Master of Science degrees in Energy Engineering. Federal Minister for Power Division Awais Ahmed Khan Laghari and American Ambassador David Hale spoke at the ceremony. Ambassador Hale commended the students for their work and encouraged them to apply their expertise.  “With the skills you’ve gained here, you are now equipped to tackle Pakistan’s most vexing energy challenges,” he said.  “Your achievement, and the building we are standing in today, is a testament to 70-year partnership between the United States and Pakistan to b...

April 18, 2018 at 3:20 pm | News Desk

Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Jonathan Elkind joined Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning, Development, and Reform, the Ministry Water and Power, and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to announce the launch of a $3 million multi-agency technical assistance program designed to support Pakistan’s energy development efforts. The three-year Program, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development, will bring experts from the Department of Energy  national laboratories together with Pakistani experts to develop strategies and resources for integrated energy planning, energy efficiency, and promoting private investment in renewable energy and integration. “The Uni...

February 10, 2016 at 10:50 am | News Desk

A US Energy expert delegation led by Mr. Jonathan Elkind Advisor to US Mission on Energy met Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Muhammad Asif in his office in Islamabad. In the meeting areas of mutual interest and cooperation in the field of energy sector especially in energy conservation and renewable energy resources came under discussion. It was apprised that Pakistan have a huge potential  in solar , wind and biomass energies resources and  US wants to share their best experiences with Pakistan to  exploit these resources and harness  the energy crisis the country is facing to. The delegation gave a comprehensive briefing on energy efficiency and development of the power grid system in the country. Highlighted the achie...

February 9, 2016 at 5:13 pm | News Desk

Pakistan’s construction of two nuclear reactors with the help of China has created media hype in Western capitals. The two reactors, each having a capacity to provide with 1,100 megawatts of electricity to national energy grids are being built in Karachi. Notwithstanding the opposition, Pakistan’s civilian nuclear energy programme is destined to meet the severe energy crisis of Pakistan. Contrary to other states, Pakistan has a small nuclear power program with 725 MWe capacity but it had been planning for quite some time to increase it substantially. Since the 1950s, the concept of the peaceful use of nuclear energy has emerged and on December 20, 1951 for the first time, electricity was produced through nuclear energy at the Ex...

June 10, 2015 at 1:01 am | News Desk

Zafar Aziz Chaudhry However hard I have tried not to worry about the frequent power outages which have assaulted us with redoubled vigour these days, and notwithstanding the golden rules of Dale Carnegie to banish worry in all unforeseen circumstances, I confess that I have not been able to be pacified by taking it all in my stride. In a well-lighted room, when life rolls on in its usual routine, suddenly pitch darkness engulfs the room bringing all activities to a grinding halt. Darkness is equated to death and depravity in the realm of literature, because it virtually devours life which manifests itself only in light. Shakespeare uses the metaphor of darkness to illustrate Macbeth’s slide towards depravity. Macbeth cannot face...

September 18, 2014 at 2:45 am | News Desk

Sughra Tunio Life is full of hardships for women like Gul Mehreen, who live in tough mountain terrain in the north of Pakistan. Their villages located in Hunza Nagar Valley are isolated and still don’t have an access to electricity making it even more difficult for them to survive harsh conditions. But thanks to a small project, Mehreen now takes delight in cooking and other daily household chores. A micro-hydel power station has been installed that now supplies clean and cheap energy to her village called Ahmadabad, where Gul Mehreen lives, making the lives of the residents, especially women much easier. In the villages, it is the womenfolk who are responsible for all cooking-related activities and they work really hard, ...

September 18, 2014 at 1:25 am | News Desk

Be cautious while purchasing a dry battery for your uninterrupted power supply (UPS) or solar power system, as an expired, outdated junk of dry batteries has flooded the market in pretext of imported batteries. The manufacturing date on these imported batteries is not mentioned. Therefore, while purchasing, it is utmost necessary for the buyer to check the manufacturing date. The increasing use of UPS and solar power systems in Pakistan has raised the demand for dry batteries which have flooded the markets. Largely, the dry batteries available in markets do not have their manufacturing date inscribed on them. Investigations reveal that some importers are deceiving consumers and local distributors by importing expired/used dry batterie...

August 15, 2014 at 12:12 pm | News Desk

Saleem Shaikh and Sughra Tunio Plans announced by the Pakistani government to more than double the country’s power output by building upwards of 15 coal-based power plants have drawn strong criticism from environmentalists who fear the consequences for the environment and the health of the country’s population. The government plans to generate around 15,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity from coal-powered plants over the next few years, according to the federal water and power ministry, in response to a chronic energy shortfall. “At present, urban and rural areas are facing intermittent power disruptions totalling 10 and 15 hours every day, respectively,” said Arshad Abbasi, water and power policy expert at the Sustainable Dev...

July 12, 2014 at 10:10 pm | News Desk

Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan Energy is life to economic development and Pakistan’s energy sector is at cross-roads. Energy sparks the socio-economic prospects of the country where its shortage has already spoiled our GDP (4 %) tremendously. It has also forced the closure of hundreds of factories (including more than five hundred alone in the industrial hub city of Faisalabad), paralyzing production and exacerbating unemployment. Although government of Pakistan announced new national energy policy 2013-2018 along with so many incentives and priorities but its overall energy economics and geo-politics is a complicated and complex phenomenon. It has internal dynamics, regional spillovers and international repercussions too. Pakistan’s m...

March 10, 2014 at 8:00 pm | News Desk

Tausif-ur-Rehman Pakistan is facing an unprecedented energy crisis due to surging demand and supply gap. Its current energy needs are heavily dependent on oil and gas and the demand far exceeds its indigenous supplies. The present energy scenario suggests that an affordable and sustainable energy road map for the country is essential to capitalize the use of indigenous resources in country’s energy mix. Development of indigenous energy resources such as coal, oil, gas, hydro and alternative sources are critical for Pakistan’s economic growth. Power sector The share of hydro power was 30% of total generation in 2012-13 as compared to nearly 70% in the 1980s. Hydro power development suffered a slowdown due to lingering con...

March 10, 2014 at 7:23 pm | News Desk