Grass root movement in Pakistan: lightning -fast solar revolution

Grass root movement in Pakistan: lightning -fast solar revolution

In Pakistan, deep blue solar panels flash on the roofs of the largest cities and line the land of the villages across the country. Pakistan, home of over 240 million people, experiences one of the fastest solar volutions worldwide, while the country has to struggle with poverty and economic instability at the same time.

The rise of solar energy in Pakistan

The country has developed into an enormous market for solar energy, since extremely cheap Chinese solar panels flow in. In 2024 Pakistan imported 17 gigawatt solar energy, more than twice as much as in the previous year, and is the third largest importer worldwide, according to data of the climate research institute Ember.

unique solar boom

Mustafa Amjad, program manager at Renewables First, an energy -like base in Islamabad, described Pakistan's history as unique. While solar energy in countries such as Vietnam and South Africa has already been accepted on a large scale, no other country has reached the speed and the extent that Pakistan has to show. He emphasized: "There is no political pressure that drives this; this is essentially guided by people and market -oriented."

challenges of the energy transition

The Solarstory Pakistan is not just a success story; It is complex and could bring difficulties in the future because the energy landscape quickly changes. Many analysts argue that what is happening here undermines the increasingly widespread narrative that renewable energies are priceless and undesirable and can only be successful with extensive state subsidies. Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founder of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, noted: "Contrary to the idea that renewable energies only live from subsidies or that developing countries will be 'imposed', people in Pakistan are actively opting for solar energy because it makes financially useful."

The "Bottom-Up" Revolution

like Waqas Moosa, Chairman of the Pakistan Solar Association and CEO by Hadron Solar, said, the solar boom in Pakistan owes a "perfect storm" of various factors. At the forefront are the falling costs for solar panels from China and the extremely high electricity prices.

The energy problem Pakistan has bound its roots in the 1990s, when the country concluded expensive power contracts, many of them to the US dollar. These challenges were tightened by the severe decline in Pakistani rupies and the falling electricity demand, which is partly due to the increase in solar production. In the past three years, electricity costs have risen by 155 %, while network stability is questioned in many regions due to several hours of power. Households and companies that can afford are increasingly increasing to cheap solar energy.

a new way of thinking about electricity

The exact amount of installed solar energy is difficult to grasp, but analysts estimate that around 15 gigawatts were installed last year. This is significant because the top of the power of electricity in Pakistan is around 30 gigawatts. Moosa compares the progress with the rise of social media. Just as platforms such as Tikok and Instagram have made it possible for people to avoid traditional media, the solar revolution gives the Pakistaners the opportunity to become both electricity generators and consumers.

challenges for the future

But this revolution also has dark sides. Moosa expressed concerns that the power grid could come under pressure, since expensive electricity is pushing away more and more people away from the network and towards solar use - which could further tighten the situation. In addition, solar energy could further deepen a gap between the poor and rich, since this technology is usually only accessible to the wealthy.

The solar boom in Pakistan is not perfect, but it is bored wider lessons, especially for countries in which network electricity is expensive and unreliable. Singh emphasizes that the falling costs of renewable energies often represent the "most rational economic way of fossil fuels", while proactive planning and timely investments are essential to keep the power grid stable.

Pakistan is currently a “flagship country” for the energy transition in the global south. Amjad added that it was crucial that the country's solar story “becomes a fairy tale and not an example of how it shouldn't be.”