Pakistan's energy sector faces significant challenges in terms of capacity, governance and financial sustainability. In May 2012, with a demand of 15,000 MW and a supply of 9,000 MW, the power generation shortage reached 6,000 MW. Since then, several power generation plants have been put into operation, but even in 2017 the power deficit was around 400 MW. New power generation under CPEC approved by NEPRA in March 2017, consists of coal-based, wind, solar and hydropower projects with a total installed capacity of 9887 MW. Of this approved capacity, the coal-based capacity is 6600 MW and the hydro-based capacity is 2690 MW. Solar and wind energy capacity represents only 6% of the total capacity. Since 2014, there has been a shift in energy production sources from oil/gas to coal, gas and renewable energy. The increased consumption of conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas), especially coal, causes greenhouse gas emissions and has other negative environmental effects. The various forms of electricity production in the country differ in terms of differences in energy sources but also in terms of generation costs, both fixed and variable. There are also many other distinctive features. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Some power plants are baseload (oil/gas/coal) plants and can provide uninterrupted power year-round; systems that depend on solar energy are constrained to provide energy only during the day (assuming there is no storage); and energy production from hydroelectric plants varies depending on the season. Some forms of generation depend on imported fuels with possible constraints on imports; others depend on local fuel and still others on renewables. Therefore, there is a need to explore a long-term energy mix for power generation in Pakistan that takes into account both standard generation cost and environmental costs, balances imported fuel with local fuel, and seasonal factors and time of day variation in Pakistan. energy generation. Models that provide Pakistan with a low-cost generation mix over a long period of time are still lacking. Pakistan relies on several forms of energy production. Heat-based electricity generation in Pakistan accounts for 64% of total energy production. This overdependence on thermoelectric generation, particularly oil-based generation, has made the cost of electricity highly dependent on imported oil and fluctuations in international oil prices. Coal-based generation is less dependent on imports due to large domestic reserves, but coal-based generation carries high environmental costs. Hydel power generation is the other main form of electricity generation (29%) and although it incurs no fuel costs, the initial investment cost is very heavy; Furthermore, energy production from hydroelectric sources varies considerably from summer to winter, requiring backup energy generation in the winter months. With these alternative forms of power generation, it would be politically fruitful to develop a power generation model that provides a least-cost power generation mix for Pakistan that takes into account differences in production costs (both fixed and variables) of different forms of energy production, emission levels and.