Pakistan’s solar boom cushions energy crisis amid supply disruptions and price hikes

SOLAR SHIFT GAINS GROUND

In Pakistan’s Punjab province, farm owner Haider Abbas has spent the past eight years working his family land in the village of Jhaiyya.

Like many farmers, he struggled with soaring electricity costs and diesel prices.

In 2022, he made a decisive shift to solar energy – a move that has helped shield him from recent energy price shocks.

“We couldn’t keep up with international prices. So I decided that if I wanted to make a profit in agriculture, I needed to transition to solar energy,” he said.

He added that solar power has replaced the diesel engines he previously used to run some of his farming machines, allowing him to rely less on grid electricity.

Abbas is among thousands of farmers adopting solar to protect their livelihoods.

The shift gained momentum after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered a surge in global energy prices, exposing Pakistan’s vulnerability to external shocks.

Solarisation is no longer confined to farms. In cities like Islamabad and Rawalpindi, rooftops are increasingly covered with solar panels.

Analysts say the rapid growth in solar installations has helped Pakistan avoid billions of dollars in fuel imports and soften the impact of global price volatility.

“The Pakistan solar boom has provided a cushion for Pakistan’s electricity sector,” said Khalid Waleed, a research fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, a research think-tank in Pakistan.

“That’s why we are not facing that sort of crisis in our power sector.”