The solarisation of Pakistan’s energy economy

Between FY23 and FY25, Pakistan experienced a rapid surge in distributed solar deployment, reaching an estimated 38 GW by June 2025. This transition has driven a 21% increase in national electricity demand, which was met entirely by solar generation as grid generation slightly declined. Distributed solar has significantly increased Pakistan's electrification rate to 21.7%, nearly matching the global average of 22.0%. The report highlights sector-specific impacts: in agriculture, solar tubewells have largely displaced diesel pumps; in industry, solar has filled the gap left by declining captive gas and coal use; and in the residential sector, it has unlocked suppressed demand for cooling appliances. Economically, the shift has avoided over $12 billion USD in fossil fuel imports by February 2026 and provided a cheaper alternative to grid and diesel power.

• Distributed solar has driven a significant increase in national electricity demand, with a 21% rise (33 TWh) between FY23 and FY25 being met entirely by distributed solar generation. During this period, distributed solar generation more than tripled from 15 TWh to 51 TWh, while grid generation fell by 3%.
• Pakistan's electrification rate—the proportion of final energy demand met by electricity—rose from 17.0% in FY23 to 21.7% in FY25, bringing it close to the global average of 22.0%.
• By June 2025, total distributed solar deployment in Pakistan reached approximately 38 GW. This includes 16.9 GW in the residential sector (44% of deployment), 10 GW in industry (26%), 8.1 GW in agriculture (21%), and 3.3 GW in the commercial sector (9%).
• In the agricultural sector, solar-powered tubewells have caused a structural transition, with solar's share of all tubewells rising from near-zero in 2022 to 61% in 2025, while diesel declined from 79% to 28%. This shift is estimated to have avoided approximately 1.9 billion litres of diesel annually.
• Distributed solar has provided a cheaper and faster alternative to traditional power plants. Residential solar with a medium battery costs approximately PKR 20 per kWh, compared to PKR 40 for grid electricity and PKR 120 for diesel generation. In two years, 27 GW of distributed solar was installed, a capacity equivalent to all coal, gas, and oil plants ever built in Pakistan.
• The transition to distributed solar has significantly reduced Pakistan's reliance on fossil fuel imports, avoiding more than $12 billion USD in oil and gas imports cumulatively up to February 2026.
• In the industrial sector, distributed solar has filled the vacuum created by the decline of captive gas and coal use, particularly in the textiles sector, which has been among the most aggressive adopters to maintain global competitiveness and lower carbon intensity.

APA

Imran, N., Amjad, M. M., Malik, S., & Jones, D. (2026). The solarisation of Pakistan’s energy economy. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Report-The-solarisation-of-Pakistans-energy-economy.pdf

Chicago

Imran, Nabiya, Muhammad Mustafa Amjad, Sohaib Malik, and Dave Jones. The solarisation of Pakistan’s energy economy. Ember, 2026. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Report-The-solarisation-of-Pakistans-energy-economy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Imran |first1=Nabiya |last2=Amjad |first2=Muhammad Mustafa |last3=Malik |first3=Sohaib |last4=Jones |first4=Dave |title=The solarisation of Pakistan’s energy economy |publisher=Ember |date=25 June 2026 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Report-The-solarisation-of-Pakistans-energy-economy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{imran2026solarisation, author = {Imran, Nabiya and Amjad, Muhammad Mustafa and Malik, Sohaib and Jones, Dave}, title = {{The solarisation of Pakistan’s energy economy}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2026/06/Report-The-solarisation-of-Pakistans-energy-economy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }