{"id":2599,"date":"2025-06-10T12:15:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T07:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=2599"},"modified":"2025-06-10T12:47:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T07:47:50","slug":"turning-surplus-power-into-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/10\/turning-surplus-power-into-jobs","title":{"rendered":"Turning Surplus Power Into Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan currently faces a challenge with surplus electricity capacity, which often leads to fiscal strain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, this surplus power can be transformed into a vital asset by driving a new industrial policy that targets energy-intensive manufacturing.<\/p>\n

By reallocating surplus electricity to industries like steel, copper smelting, and aluminum, Pakistan can boost exports, create jobs, and stimulate economic growth.<\/p>\n

With the rise of solar power and household battery storage reducing grid demand, there is an urgent need to integrate this reality into energy planning and policy.<\/p>\n

Rethinking Power Pricing and Industrial Growth<\/h3>\n

Moving away from outdated cost-plus pricing models towards a marginal cost pricing system is crucial.<\/p>\n

This approach would allow surplus power to be auctioned to industries that generate maximum economic value without cross-subsidies or direct subsidies.<\/p>\n

The focus should be on fostering industrial growth that adds real value through forward and backward integration, particularly in energy-intensive sectors.<\/p>\n

Additionally, cold-chain infrastructure in agriculture, currently underdeveloped due to high power costs, can benefit from affordable electricity sourced through a blend of solar and grid power.<\/p>\n

This would encourage value addition in agriculture, reducing waste and increasing exports.<\/p>\n

Policy and Economic Implications<\/h3>\n

Global studies highlight how subsidies can distort trade and industrial sectors, yet targeted state intervention can unlock latent advantages in overlooked industries.<\/p>\n

A well-designed industrial policy must measure results, keep incentives time-bound, and allow unproductive ventures to phase out efficiently.<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s installed power generation capacity has outpaced peak demand and will likely continue to grow, especially with increasing solar adoption.<\/p>\n

This creates idle megawatts that could be sold at marginal or fuel-only cost prices to qualified industries, encouraging higher electricity consumption and export growth.<\/p>\n

Policy tools include auctioning surplus power for greenfield and brownfield projects, revitalizing special economic zones, and improving infrastructure services like electricity, gas, water, and effluent treatment.<\/p>\n

Clear export targets linked to power supply could help track industrial performance and phase out non-performing players.<\/p>\n

Capitalizing on local coal, gas, and minerals through better power pricing can boost value addition and exports from regions like Sindh and Balochistan.<\/p>\n

Pakistan now faces a choice: let surplus power remain a financial burden and risk grid instability, or leverage it as the foundation for a new era of export-led industrial growth and job creation.<\/p>\n

With discipline and clear policy, power-led industrialization could become a key engine for Pakistan\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan currently faces a challenge with surplus electricity capacity, which often leads to fiscal strain. However, this surplus power can be transformed into a vital asset by driving a new industrial policy that targets energy-intensive manufacturing. By reallocating surplus electricity to industries like steel, copper smelting, and aluminum, Pakistan can boost exports, create jobs, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1273,1306,1305],"class_list":["post-2599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-growth","tag-industrial","tag-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2601,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions\/2601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}