Pakistan’s 22 GW Solar Shock: How a Fragile State Went Full Clean Energy

Pakistan’s 22 GW Solar Shock: How a Fragile State Went Full Clean Energy



by notjocelynschitt

9 comments

  1. Pakistan installed 22 GW worth of solar panels in a single year, which is more than Canada has installed in TOTAL, and more than the UK has added in the past FIVE years!

    As another point of comparison, India, which has 5-6x Pakistan’s population, installed only about 25 GW of solar in 2024.

  3. A good example of what a lack of vested interests can achieve.

  4. One really has to appreciate China too. The glut they created may have short term economic issues from perspective of some purists but they are long term societal wins in my book

  5. Pakistan is the world’s greatest clean energy story of 2023-24.

    More people need to know about it.

  6. “Good governance.” Seems like common sense, doesn’t it?

    *”That’s what set the stage for the current explosion in solar power. For years, Pakistan’s grid was a source of national frustration—rolling blackouts, wild tariff swings, and a chronic overreliance on imported fossil fuels. The tipping point came when utility-scale and industrial solar started making simple economic sense. With Chinese panel prices crashing through the floor and diesel generator costs spiraling out of control, even small business owners started doing the math. The answer was always the same: buy solar. Add batteries if you can afford them. Cut the grid loose.*

    *In 2024, that decision calculus went mainstream. Import records show 22 gigawatts worth of modules flooding into the country, with many going to private-sector installations behind the meter. Warehouses, textile mills, farms—anything with a flat roof and a balance sheet. The government barely needed to nudge the market. It just removed tariffs, approved net metering, and got out of the way. Good governance.”*

  7. Using AI for the main article image just immediately makes me doubt the entire article. Such a shame they feel the need to add fake images

  8. Pakistan’s government did a stellar job of encouraging solar and getting out of the way. Something South Asian governments don’t have a stellar record in. Full marks to the current government on this one.

  9. kudos to Pakistan. it goes to show how technology disruption is accelerated by grassroots necessity, lack of regulations and no interference from weak incumbents, brewing the perfect storm for leapfrogging more mature economies with entrenched oligopolies.

    this reminds me how my country (Romania) outraced far wealthier nations in fixed internet broadband. in the early 2000s the general public refused the expensive DSL/cable internet from the weak post-communist telco sector, and installed their own ethernet/fiber networks that consolidated later on into new ISPs. this was made possible by how cheap network switches and twisted pair ethernet/fiber became, leading to scale adoption. by 2009 we had widespread access to 100Mbps connections for just ~6 USD/mo, and by 2013 we had 1Gbps for ~12 USD/mo (in the meantime prices dropped even lower).

    anyway, sorry for the long tangent.. I couldn’t help but notice how cheap solar panels, batteries, inverters and whatnot is fast tracking a similar transition in the energy sector of developing nations.

    I think there’s a lot of countries to watch in this energy space.. like South Africa, Morocco, and even island nations that are critically dependent on oil for their electricity needs.

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