Solar Power Boom in Pakistan
Falling solar panel prices and soaring rates for grid electricity are driving a renewable power boom in Pakistan. A second factor spurring the growth in clean energy installations is the requirement of major western apparel brands for garments and textile manufacturers to switch to clean energy. As a result, the solar panel imports in the country jumped from 2,800 MW in 2022 to 5,000 MW in 2023, in spite of stringent import controls imposed by the government. Solar imports are on track to reach 12,000 MW in 2024, according to solar installers. The total current installed generation capacity in Pakistan is around 40,000 MW. Grid electricity demand in Pakistan plunged in 2023 by nearly a sixth and a decline in 2024 would mark the first time in 16 years that annual electricity use has fallen consecutively, data from energy think tank Ember showed, according to Reuters.
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| Pakistan Solar Panel Imports. Source: PV Magazine |
Omar Malik, the CEO of Shams Power, a major solar system contractor in Pakistan, was recently quoted by PV Magazine as saying: “In 2022, 2.8 GW of solar panels were imported into Pakistan. In 2023, about 5 GW, despite the import controls, and this year the prediction is for up to 12 GW”.
Aamir Hussain, chairman Pakistan Alternative Energy Association, told Arab News that solar panels of around 1,800 MW were purchased and installed last year, which was expected to jump to 3,000 MW this year due to the lower prices of the panels and increased customer demand.
“Pakistan will be spending over $3.5 billion [this year] on solar panel imports only as this doesn’t include import of batteries, inverters and other auxiliary items,” Hussain said. “Pakistan needs to follow consistent policies regarding renewable energy to meet its national and international obligations for the greenhouse gas emissions.”
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| Pakistan's Monthly Solar Imports in millions of US$. Source: Bloomberg |
Japanese publication Nikkei Asia recently reported seeing residential building rooftops covered with solar panels in Islamabad. It also reported proliferation of rooftop solar in small towns and villages across the country. In particular, the Nikkei story mentioned the remote village of Kardigap with a population of 5,000, in Balochistan province, where solar panels are becoming more common on the rooftops of houses.
Responding to western apparel brands' demand for sustainability, a number of large Pakistani textile manufacturers are switching to clean energy, particularly solar. Tayyab Group of Industries (TGOIs), a major textile manufacturer, has recently signed an MOU to install a 20 MW solar system for its needs. Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited announced recently that it will install a 17.1 MW roof-top solar power plant to meet its energy needs.
While rapid uptake of solar is good news for the planet, it does create a major fiscal issue for the Pakistani government struggling to pay for power produced by the independent power producers (IPPs). The IPPs, many of them Chinese, secured a guaranteed return on investment indexed to the U.S. dollar, plus payment for fixed capacity charges -- covering their debt servicing and other fixed costs -- regardless of whether the power plants are operational, according to Nikkei Asia. As the demand for the grid power from the IPPs declines with rising solar, the taxpayers are still on the hook for the unused installed capacity charges running into billions of dollars. Higher power tariffs and taxes will only make the situation worse.
Capping Net Metering power and reducing payments for supplying excess power to the grid are not going to solve the problem either. It will only encourage more consumers to switch to rooftop solar and use less electricity from the grid. Self consumption of the rooftop solar power saves significant energy costs for the consumer.
It seems the only way forward for the Pakistan government is to renegotiate the terms with the IPPs to significantly reduce grid power costs to address the growing cost gap between rooftop solar and the grid power.
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Riaz Haq
Pakistan to Add Over 2,600 MW Through Solar Net Metering in FY2025–26
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2550583/solar-net-metering-to-add-over....
The number of net metering consumers is also expected to grow by 197,655, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator through increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption and supporting grid stability.
At that point, the generation mix is projected to comprise approximately 50.5% from renewable sources (including hydel, solar, solar net metering, wind and bagasse) and 49.5% from thermal sources (such as coal, gas, re-gasified liquefied natural gas, oil and nuclear).
The power sector will receive a public investment of Rs161,635 million from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of FY26, including government-budgeted/self-finance projects of power companies, excluding independent power producers (IPPs).
The government plans to execute 63 projects.
These investments will contribute directly to the achievement of SDGs through distribution and transmission projects aimed at increasing access to electricity and through power generation projects by enhancing the share of renewable energy.
By the end of June 2026, the transmission sector will be boosted by an additional capacity of 5,550, 4,710 and 1,300 MVA on 500-kilovolt, 220kV and high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) grids, respectively.
These transmission lines will be extended by 170 km (500kV), 355 km (220kV) and 137 km (±660kV). Additionally, one new grid station will be established at the 765kV level and two at the 220kV level.
To increase the proportion of population having access to electricity, the targeted investment in power distribution will lead to the electrification of 15,352 villages and the addition of 1.861 million new consumer connections during FY26.
These efforts will directly expand electricity access across urban and rural areas.
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Pakistan to Add Over 2,600 MW Through Solar Net Metering in FY2025–26
Pakistan is making a big leap in renewable energy. According to the Annual Plan 2025–26, 2,800 megawatts will be added to the grid next year, 2,633 MW of which will come from solar net metering.
This shift highlights growing public participation in clean energy production, despite an already surplus generation capacity.
Jun 16
Riaz Haq
Pakistan's solar surge lifts it into rarefied 25% club
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/pakistans-solar-surge-l...
(Reuters) - Pakistan is rapidly emerging as a key leader in solar power deployment, and not just within emerging economies.
The South Asian country has boosted solar electricity generation by over three times the global average so far this year, fuelled by a more than fivefold rise in solar capacity imports since 2022, according to data from Ember.
That combination of rapidly rising capacity and generation has propelled solar power from Pakistan's fifth-largest electricity source in 2023 to its largest in 2025.
What's more, so far in 2025 solar power has accounted for 25% of Pakistan's utility-supplied electricity, which makes it one of fewer than 20 nations globally that have sourced a quarter or more of monthly electricity supplies from solar farms.
EXCLUSIVE CLUB
Over the first four months of 2025, solar farms generated an average of 25.3% of Pakistan's utility electricity supplies, Ember data shows.
That average compares with a solar share of 8% globally, around 11% in China, 8% in the United States and 7% in Europe.
And while the average solar shares in the Northern Hemisphere will climb steadily through the summer months, very few countries will even come close to securing a quarter of all utility electricity supplies from solar farms any time soon.
Indeed, only 17 countries have ever registered a 25% or more share of monthly utility electricity supplies from solar farms, according to Ember.
Those nations are: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Portugal and Spain.
That list is heavily skewed towards Europe, where the power sector shock from Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sparked urgent and widespread power-sector reform and the rapid roll-out of renewable generation capacity.
ndeed, Australia and Chile are the only nations aside from Pakistan that are outside Europe, and all included nations boast a far higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita than Pakistan.
IMPORT DRIVE
The chief driver of Pakistan's solar surge has been an accelerating import binge of solar capacity modules from China.
Between 2022 and 2024, Pakistan's imports of China-made solar components jumped fivefold from around 3,500 megawatts (MW) to a record 16,600 MW, according to Ember.
Pakistan's share of China's total solar module exports also rose sharply, from 2% in 2022 to nearly 7% in 2024.
And that import binge has continued into 2025.
Over the first four months of the year, Pakistan imported just over 10,000 MW of solar components from China, compared with around 8,500 MW during the same period in 2024.
That rise of nearly 18% in imported capacity has lifted Pakistan's share of China's solar exports to new highs too, with Pakistan accounting for around 12% of all of China's solar exports so far this year.
SOLAR-CENTRIC
The frantic deployment of imported solar modules across Pakistan in recent years has upended the country's electricity generation mix.
So far in 2025, solar is by far the single largest source of electricity, followed by natural gas, nuclear reactors, coal plants and hydro dams.
Jun 17
Riaz Haq
Pakistan's solar surge lifts it into rarefied 25% club
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/pakistans-solar-surge-l...
As solar farms were the fifth-largest supply source for electricity just two years ago, solar's pre-eminence so far this marks a sharp swing towards renewables within the country's utility network.
In addition, the country is committed to much more growth in renewable energy generation capacity through the rest of this decade.
Pakistan is targeting 60% of electricity supplies to come from renewable sources by 2030, according to the International Trade Administration.
Through the first four months of 2025, renewable energy sources generated 28% of the country's electricity, so energy planners are aiming for a more than doubling in that share by the end of the decade.
With solar modules representing the quickest and cheapest means to meet those goals, further rapid build-out of the country's solar farm system looks likely, which will cement Pakistan's status as a global solar superpower.
Jun 17