Pakistan is facing an annual electricity shortfall of 5000 MW since 2005 due to lack of effective planning on harnessing indigenous energy resources and dependence on imported fuels. In this regard, a qualitative analysis is presented to address the ongoing energy crises and to suggest the development of domestic energy assets and recommends a policy framework to meet electricity goals. Status of energy in Pakistan is presented in the context of energy supply and demand and discusses the major issues such as electricity theft and circular debt. The reasons are identified for power system degradation, energy crises and their potential impacts on the economy of Pakistan is discussed. Further, domestic energy assets are evaluated for their capacity of power production, including solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal, hydro, coal, and natural gas. The main variables of Pakistan’s energy status are power system restructuring, power system planning and policies, electricity theft, energy crisis and circular debt. The key challenges for policy development are also addressed using possible approaches and used these approaches as input in making policy framework by considering the domestic energy resource through incorporating the policy actors, policy criteria, and policy tools. It is found that Pakistan has a renewable potential of 3425.796 GW and a non-renewable potential of 104.883 GW to meet the future energy demand. It is suggested to exploit domestic energy assets for power production, optimize energy planning and policy to find a secure and sustainable energy option for Pakistan.
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