The Global Social Network
Recent experience in California has shown that changes in incentives have a huge impact on residential adoption of solar power technology. Since the introduction of NEM 3.0 last year, new rooftop solar business in California has dramatically slowed. New residential solar installation applications have plunged 80%, according to Cal Matters. This has driven many solar installers out of business. The business that remains is mostly focused on adding batteries to existing solar installations.
![]() |
| Impact of California NEM 3.0 on Solar Business. Source: Cal Matters |
California Net Energy Metering (NEM 3.0) was launched last year after heavy lobbying by the state's utility companies like PGE and SoCal Edison. It has reduced payments for the excess power exported by the consumer to the grid by 75%. This change means that the consumer is better off with storage batteries to maximize self-consumption of the power generated by the solar panels. Companies such as Tesla Solar with its PowerWall 3 battery are the main beneficiaries of this change.
![]() |
| Net Metering vs Net Billing Payback Period in Pakistan. Source: IEEFA |
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Clean Energy Revolution in Pakistan
Pakistan Electric Vehicle Policy
Nuclear Power in Pakistan
Solar Power Boom in Pakistan
Pakistan's Response to Climate Change
IPP Contacts Bankrupting Pakistan
Renewable Energy for Pakistan
Net Metering in Pakistan
LNG Imports in Pakistan
Growing Water Scarcity in Pakistan
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Ownership of Appliances and Vehicles in Pakistan
CPEC Transforming Pakistan
Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Projects in Pakistan
Riaz Haq's YouTube Channel
PakAlumni Social Network
Pakistan imported an estimated cumulative total of 7.6 GWh (7,600,000 MWh) of battery storage systems between 2018 and the end of 2025, with imports continuing at a pace exceeding 5 GWh per year and hitting a record single-month volume of 652.2 MWh in April 2026. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Import Timeline & Milestones
2018–2025 Total: Roughly 7,600,000 MWh (7.6 GWh) of cumulative battery storage imports, with about 60% of that total arriving during 2025 alone. [1]
2024–Early 2025: An estimated 1,250,000 MWh (1.25 GWh) imported in 2024, followed by another 400,000 MWh (0.4 GWh) in the first two months of 2025. [1, 2]
April 2026 Peak: A record single-month high of 652.2 MWh of lithium-ion batteries was imported in April 2026 as consumers and industries shifted heavily toward storage. [1]
Current Import Pace: Ongoing imports are tracking at a rate of more than 5,000,000 MWh (5 GWh) per year. [1]
-----------
Batteries Beat the Grid: Pakistanis Skip Net Metering
https://www.techjuice.pk/batteries-beat-the-grid-pakistanis-skip-ne...
Pakistani households are increasingly storing solar-generated electricity in batteries rather than selling it back to the national grid, a shift triggered by the implementation of net metering regulations that has created a new challenge for the government.
According to a report on the Pakistan Battery Import Market, the country has imported batteries with a cumulative capacity of 6.004 GW since January 2024.
April 2026 recorded the highest monthly import volume, with battery capacity reaching 652.2 MW. During that month alone, Pakistani citizens invested Rs126 billion in battery purchases.
Pakistan total power generation capacity, excluding solar, stands at 39,000 MW. Transmission and distribution losses account for up to 18 percent of this total generation capacity.
In response to the rising volume of battery imports, the government has begun drafting a National Battery Framework. Officials note that the growth in solar and battery adoption in Pakistan is outpacing the trend seen in other countries across the region.
Globally, energy storage capacity is projected to reach 1.5 million MW by 2030. Industry estimates suggest global investment in battery storage will total $1.2 trillion between 2024 and 2035.
Recent Wall Street Journal coverage highlights that sodium-based batteries—built using abundant materials like table salt and iron—are emerging as cheaper, safer, and China-free alternatives to traditional lithium-ion batteries for grid storage and electric vehicles.Key Advantages of Sodium BatteriesLower Cost: Made with inexpensive, common ingredients like food-grade table salt, reducing reliance on expensive lithium, cobalt, and copper.Enhanced Safety: Far less prone to thermal runaway fires, and capable of being passively air-cooled rather than needing expensive liquid-chilling systems.Cold Weather Performance: Retain significantly more charge capacity in sub-zero freezing temperatures compared to conventional lithium cells.Industry and Market ShiftsU.S. Startups & Giants: American companies like Peak Energy and Inlyte Energy are racing to scale domestic production for stationary power storage, while General Motors designs its own sodium-based cells.Chinese Production: Major global battery makers like CATL are advancing mass production and deploying sodium-ion technology into both grid systems and smaller city electric vehicles.Market Projections: Analysts project that sodium could capture over a third of global battery production within a decade as supply chains diversify away from lithium.
————
China-free batteries made from salt are finally here
While grid battery storage is already growing in the U.S. at a furious pace, new sodium-based batteries are potentially cheaper, longer-lasting, safer and more reliable than conventional, lithium-based ones. They could accelerate the rollout of renewables, and be part of less-polluting alternatives to natural-gas turbines and diesel generators.
Most sodium-based batteries are now made in China, and represent less than 1% of all batteries delivered this year. In the U.S., a number of startups have begun producing small numbers of such batteries, and are racing to scale up production. One industrial giant—General Motors —is in the process of designing its own sodium-based batteries to tailor them to different applications before moving to mass production.
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/china-free-batteries-made-f...
Comment
South Asia Investor Review
Investor Information Blog
Haq's Musings
Riaz Haq's Current Affairs Blog
Pakistan has long sought to balance its foreign policy between China and the United States through a pragmatic hedging strategy, gaining economic, military, and diplomatic benefits from both superpowers while maintaining strategic autonomy. But the relationship between Pakistan and China is not the same as the one between Pakistan and the United States. Pakistan's ties with China are strategic while those with the United States remain tactical and transactional. What…
ContinuePosted by Riaz Haq on August 1, 2026 at 1:00pm — 5 Comments
Rogue AI agents are no longer just the stuff of science fiction. When an OpenAI rogue agent launched a cyber attack against AI startup Hugging Face this month, the company fought fire with fire, using an open-source Chinese AI model to defend against it.
During a test in a sandbox, an OpenAI autonomous agent managed to sneak out and attack a website operated by HuggingFace, an AI startup based in New York City.…
Posted by Riaz Haq on July 26, 2026 at 9:33pm — 12 Comments
© 2026 Created by Riaz Haq.
Powered by
You need to be a member of PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network to add comments!
Join PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network