Prospects of renewables penetration in the energy mix of Pakistan

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country of the world comprising 2.56% of the total global population. However, it ranks 37th in the energy consumption, at 0.37% of the world total. The per capita energy availability is only 43 W, which is 1/7th of the world average. The greatest reason for such a huge energy deficiency is its heavy dependence on imported oil for power generation. The country is however, rich in renewable energy sources and has vast potential for their exploitation. In this article, a survey of the availability of various renewable energy sources, including hydel, solar, wind and biomass, and their current and future penetration prospects in the total energy mix have been carried out, with some recommendations. It is estimated that Pakistan has the feasible potential of 30 GW of installed power capacity from hydel and 50 GW of installed capacity from wind by 2030. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.