The solarisation of Pakistan’s energy economy

This report by Ember examines the rapid growth of consumer-led distributed solar in Pakistan between FY23 and FY25, arguing that it has transformed the national energy system by unlocking suppressed electricity demand and accelerating electrification across residential, industrial, commercial, and agricultural sectors.

• Between FY23 and FY25, Pakistan's total electricity demand grew by 21%, an increase of 33 TWh that was entirely met by distributed solar generation. During this period, distributed solar generation more than tripled from 15 TWh to 51 TWh, increasing its share of the electricity mix from 10% to 28%.
• Distributed solar has significantly accelerated Pakistan's electrification rate—the proportion of final energy demand met by electricity—which rose from 17.0% in FY23 to 21.7% in FY25. This brings Pakistan close to the global average of 22.0%.
• The scale of distributed solar deployment is immense; 27 GW was installed in just two years, which is equivalent to the total capacity of all coal, gas, and oil plants ever built in Pakistan. As of June 2025, total distributed solar deployment is estimated at 38 GW.
• Distributed solar provides a cheaper alternative to grid and diesel power. Residential systems with medium batteries cost approximately PKR 20 per kWh, compared to PKR 40 for grid electricity and PKR 120 per kWh for diesel generation.
• In the agricultural sector, solar-powered tubewells have caused a structural transition, increasing from near-zero to 61% of all tubewells between 2022 and 2025, while diesel-powered tubewells fell from 79% to 28%. This shift avoided approximately 1.9 billion litres of diesel annually.
• The adoption of distributed solar has provided significant macroeconomic relief by reducing fossil fuel import dependence. Pakistan avoided more than $12 billion USD in oil and gas imports cumulatively up to February 2026.
• Sectoral deployment of distributed solar as of FY25 is split between residential (44%), industry (26%), agriculture (21%), and commercial users (9%).

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} }