New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Pakistan’s grassroots solar revolution of 2024
7/5/2025
8 min read
Feature
In 2024, Pakistan unexpectedly became the world’s sixth largest buyer of solar panels. Thousands of disgruntled urban electricity customers had long been looking to affordably run their air conditioners or business equipment. Decentralised photovoltaics (DPV) offered a feasible way to reduce grid-dependence, and last year they collectively invested in 15 GW of rooftop solar systems, reports Meredith Monroe.
The Pakistan experience underscores a critical lesson: non-performing, legacy power sectors must adapt or perish in an evolving energy transition landscape shaped by consumer-driven renewable energy adoption. This article looks at (i) why electricity consumers left the grid en masse and switched to solar; (ii) immediate consequences for the grid power sector; and (iii) lessons for other developing countries.
The electricity sector in Pakistan is struggling to perform due to severe financial challenges. Heavy reliance on imported LNG, coal and petroleum products for electricity generation drains nearly 30% of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Exposure to global commodity price volatility strains public finances. Pakistan’s GDP is around $375bn, and its population of 250 million is the fifth largest in the world, behind China, India, the US and Indonesia. Installed electric power generation capacity stands at 46.2 GW. The energy mix is 52% thermal, 26% hydro, 17% nuclear and 5% renewables. The traditional grid-electricity sector has struggled for a decade with supply-demand gaps, inflexible contracts, mounting debts, operating losses and long blackouts.
Prolonged, dangerous heatwaves are now pushing the grid to its limits and outages have lengthened as cooling demands have spiked. Droughts also reduce the availability of cooling water for safe operation of thermal plants. This further restricts electricity supply.