Gas becoming a major source of power generation: World Bank

The World Bank report 'World Development Indicators 2008' reveals that Pakistan's dependence on water resources for power generation declined by 12 percent - from 44 percent to 32 percent - during 1990 to 2005 whereas reliance on gas increased by 11 percent - from 33 per cent to 44 percent.
The decline in reliance on hydel electricity can be attributed to the failure of the previous government to invest in construction of big projects such as Kalabagh Dam, Basha Dams etc. Statistics reveal a declining trend in hydropower generation in the region with the exception of Nepal, which was relying exclusively on water resources for power generation.
Further analysis of the data showed that Pakistan generates 20.6 percent of its electricity from oil, which is becoming dearer in the international market with each passing day and may not constitute an economically viable means of power production in future. There is need to exploit alternate sources of energy such as water, coal and nuclear, which are environment friendly.
A comparison of sources of power production in the region showed that Pakistan, India and Iran have been rapidly shifting to gas as the major source of power generation, which increases the need for early materialisation of Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to meet their domestic demand for future consumption.
Pakistan's gas consumption as a percentage of its total power generation increased from 33 to 44 percent, India's from 3.4 to 8.9 percent while Iran's 52 percent to 73 percent during the period under review. India's reliance on Hydropower also declined from 24.8 to 14.3 percent during 1990 to 2005.
Similarly, Bangladesh has been mainly relying on use of gas for power generation and its consumption as a percentage of the total generation increased from 84.3 percent in 1990 to 86.6 percent in 2005 while Sri Lanka which in 1990, was mainly using water as a major source for power generation is now relying on oil to meet about 60 percent of its power production needs.
Data also showed that Pakistan in 2005 met 20 percent of its energy needs through imports with 3.7 percent average annual percentage growth of energy use from 1990 to 2005.