Smart summary of the whole unit # 08: Power Resources

Smart-Summary of UNIT # 8 : POWER RESOURCES

Pakistan is not self-sufficient in its resources. Fulfills 67% of energy demand from local resources and
rest is met through imports. Forms of energy are heat, light, electrical and chemical. Main sources of
energy according to importance are oil, gas, HEP, coal, nuclear, LPG, CNG, solar, bio.
IMPORTANCE OF POWER RESOURCES: Agricultural, economic, social development, run industries.
DIFFICULTIES FACED BY PAKISTAN: Lack of funds, coordination, political instability leading to lack of
government priority, shortage of experts, equipments, labs, less developed infrastructure.
TYPES OF RESOURCES:
RENEWABLE: (Water, wind, solar, geothermal).
NON-RENEWABLE: Fossil fuels made from decomposition of dead remains of animals and plants buried
underground for million years (coal, oil, gas, uranium).
COAL:
Quality in Pakistan: Lignite, Bituminous, more ashes less carbon, thin seams, poor quality that needs
more heat to burn and produce coke so it has to imported.
Location: BAL (Sor range), Lower Sindh (Lakhra) Salt Range (Makarwal), Thar coal fields.
Organizations: PMDC (Pakistan mineral development Corporation)
Uses: Major use is fuel in brick kilns to bake bricks, fuel to heat boilers to make steam in thermal power
station, burnt to make coke a raw material to make steel, distribution loss.
Transportation of coal within country: Scoped from open cast or mined from adit (horizontal tunnels) or
shaft (vertical) mining from underground, good quality coal is separated, loaded on Lorries or donkeys
and taken out of mines, loaded on trucks middle man, taken on railway station or trucks go by roads.
Imported coal: Coke is imported by ships through sea, unloaded from ships at ports, loaded on trucks
taken to destination or railway station for loading to industries for making steel.
Future prospects: Till 1990 it was the least important mineral but now new fields are discovered in Thar
Desert. It can be a low price alternate fuel. Good quality coal is imported for making steel
Reserves: 185 billion tons, more reserves likely to be explored in Thar area but export is unlikely.
OIL: Found in anticline rocks underground, trapped in porous rocks folded between nonporous rocks.
Oil Refinery: Attock oil refinery at Morga Potwar plateau. Pakistan and national oil refinery at Karachi,
Mehmood kot.
Location of reserves:
Potwar plateau ( Tut, Adhi )
Lower Sindh fields: (Tando Adam, Laghari)
Organization: PMDC, PARCO, OGDC.
Uses of oil: Thermal power station to boil water for streams, lubrication for machinery, fuel for
transportation as diesel and patrol, agriculture use is tube well, tractors and pesticides,
by products of oil are used in pesticides, detergents, wax.
Extraction of oil: Derricks are placed in oil rigs, drills the underground rocks till reaches the oil reserves,
extra gas leaked is burnt, once reaching the oil reserve drill is replaced by pipes and valve is attached to
control the oil flow. Derrick is dismantled.
Transportation oil from fields: Pipeline (cheapest, convenient, environment friendly, needs
maintenance, can’t reach northern areas) loaded in barrels on trucks or railways and taken to end users
(loading, unloading charges, reach far areas, time consuming chances of accidents)
Reserves of oil: 765 billion tones, more reserves likely to be explored but export is unlikely. 64% of
requirement is met by imports from Middle East.
Reasons for increase in oil imports: Increase in population and demand for transportation fuel,
increased industrial demand for thermal use, urbanization, less reserves explored and extracted in
Pakistan.

1|Page By Adnan Ashraf, Beaconhouse Liberty Campus,Lahore

 Smart summary of the whole unit # 08: Power Resources

Extent of oil pipeline network: Mostly in Punjab and Sindh, connecting all major refineries to all major
cities and provincial capitals, along with Indus and its tributaries. Other means of transportation is
through oil tankers, containers in railways.
NATURAL GAS: Quality: Good quality, 90% methane. It’s called cheap fuel as has large reserves, not
imported yet, light weight, available in pipelines and portable cylinders, cleaner than burning woods and
coal and easy to extract.
Extraction: Drilled with simple small machinery as found in upper layers, little ma power needed, drill
replaced by pipes, valves attached to control flow and pressure of gas.
Organizations: OGDC, Geological survey of Pakistan, SNGPL, SSGPL.
Uses: Fuel in fertilizer, paint, cement industry, thermal power stations to heat boilers for steam,
domestic use for heating, cooking, CNG and LPG for transportation.
Transportation: Pipeline by road and railway in cylinders. (Advantages and disadvantages, same as oil)
Reserves in Pakistan: 492 billion cubic meters mostly, Pirkoh, 42% from Sui in Balochistan, Kandkot,
Mari in Sindh. More reserves likely to be explored but export are unlikely. Pipeline project has been
started to import gas from Iran and Turkmenistan which will be completed in coming few years.
Extent of Natural Gas pipeline in Pakistan: Widely distributed towards eastern side, mostly Punjab and
Sindh province along Indus and its tributaries, terminating on foothills of northern mountains, extending
to all major cities and provincial capitals. Areas out of range can be served through LPG and CNG
cylinders by road. Limitations for that are steep slopes, land sliding, weather constraints.
ENERGY RESOURCES
NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES: This energy is made from non renewable resource which will eventually
exhaust and cannot be reused.
Thermal Energy: Highest production in Pakistan
Location: Thermal power stations are built at Lakhra (coal), Pasni, Multan, Faisalabad (gas), Guddu,
Kotri, and Quetta.
Method: Coal, oil, gas is burnt as fuel to boil water to make steam used to run turbines blades which
generates electricity and transforms it by transformers and saves in cables connected to pylon.
Advantages: Less expensive, low initial coast, no topographical constraints to setup, fuel available.
Disadvantages: Non renewable fuel, cause high pollution and adds to global warming when coal is
burnt.
Nuclear Energy: Uranium a mineral extracted from ground when heated in nuclear stations fission takes
place and splitting of atoms releases energy which is transformed by transformers and stored in cables.
Pakistan has 2 Nuclear power stations at Chasma (assisted by china) and Karachi (made with help of
Canada). Advantages of this energy is that it’s an alternate fuel for coal, oil, gas doesn’t added to
greenhouse effect, has less chance of accidents in power stations. Disadvantages of are that nuclear
waste stays alive and has to be properly disposed, or can cause skin cancer and diseases, expensive to
set up, non-renewable resource.
RENEWABLE RESOURCES: They can be recycled and reused and if made sustainable can be available for
next generation.
Hydro electric power: Million tones water is stored in reservoirs to give a speed to water and make it
rotate the blades of turbines which will rotate the shaft, disturb the magnetic field producing sparks by
generators and transformed by transformers installed in a separate hall. It is then stored in cable
connecting to pylons taken to all remote areas.
Physical requirements of a dam: Heavy precipitation area for reservoir, narrow valley with rocks for
strong embankments, large drainage basin for more water, steep slope for gradient.
Advantages: Renewable, environment friendly, low running cost.
Disadvantages: Needs huge areas has physical requirements and can’t be building anywhere, high initial
cost, more planning, effected by silt.

2|Page By Adnan Ashraf, Beaconhouse Liberty Campus,Lahore

 Smart summary of the whole unit # 08: Power Resources

Major multipurpose dams: Tarbella at river Indus, Mangla at river Jehlum and Warsak at river Kabul.

Organization dealing with electric power supplies & HEP (hydro electric power) :
WAPDA: (water & power development authority) only WAPDA can make HEP & dams
KESC : (Karachi electric supply company) LESCO: (Lahore electric supply company)
FESCO: (Faisalabad electric supply company) KANUP: (Karachi Nuclear Power plant)
CHANUP: (Chashma Neuclear power plant) QSP: (Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park at Bahawalpur)
NPGP: (Nandi-pur Gas-power plant) PGP: (Pikhi gas-power plant)
FSP: (Faisalabad steam-power plant….. some other cities also have GOVT-owned thermal/steam power
plants)
IPP: (independent power projects; mainly thermal power projects which use oil, coal & gas as fuel which
is very costly as compare to HEP and it also causes air-pollution)
Feasibility: Many suitable locations are under consideration like kalabagh, Bhasha, Ghazi-Brotha and
Hub. Mostly the ideal dam sights are located in KPK and G.B due to high altitude.
Wind power: Wind pumps convert kinetic energy in wind to mechanical energy.
Uses: Grinding grains, generating electricity, pumping water.
Method: Very tall wind turbines are installed in windy areas with sensors to rotate to direction of wind.
When desired speed obtained generator produces electricity and can be added to all ready existing
cables.
Feasibility: 1000 km long coast with 10 million people, all year wind availability. Gharo wind power plant
is working in Sindh; Zolu German group is also proceeding with options.
Advantages: Renewable, Environment friendly, lead to industrialization.
Disadvantages: Expensive, inconstant supply, physical constraints need technical maintenance.
Wave power: Wave motion can be used to compress air to drive a turbine.
Feasibility: 1000 km long coastal area has strong waves. Tidal wave arrives twice in 24 hours due to
gravitational pull. Indus delta had many creeks.
Advantages: renewable, constant, environment friendly.
Disadvantages: Expensive, destroy natural habitat and hinder trade activities.
Geo thermal: Derived from heat of earth core. In hot springs holes are drilled in land to pump out water.
This steam is used to run turbines to produce electricity.
Feasibility: Plate margin of Himalayas, Chagai. Study needs identification, size, and heat content but not
present in Pakistan at all.
Advantages: Constant, pollution free, renewable, sustainable.
Disadvantages: Expensive, need maintenance, volcanic areas subject to earth quake.
Biogas: Organic material like plant, vegetables, trees, grass, corn, sugar beet, sugarcane wood waste.
Pakistan only works with cow dung when methane is released collected to burn and make steam.
Solar:
Advantages: renewable, 320 sunny days, flat land.
Disadvantages: expensive, need maintenance, technical staff.
REASONS FOR SHORTAGE OF ELECTRICITY: Political instability, water reduces in winter, lack of capital,
loss of transmission lines, siltation, power theft, increase in population and demand, topographical and
weather constraints in north with no infrastructure.
Solutions: attract foreign investors, use renewable resources, strict laws for theft, make small dams,
public awareness, and improve transmission lines.
RURAL ELECTRIFICATION:
Advantages: Tube well, small scale industries, long working hours, employment, discourage migration,
access to media and it improves standards for living.

3|Page By Adnan Ashraf, Beaconhouse Liberty Campus,Lahore

 Smart summary of the whole unit # 08: Power Resources

Constraints/disadvantages : Far from transmission lines, not feasible for highlands, and not feasible for
small village.

4|Page By Adnan Ashraf, Beaconhouse Liberty Campus,Lahore