Pakistan's long struggle to generate enough electricity is over, according to its energy minister, but a new problem has taken its place. Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, federal minister for energy (power division), said on Tuesday that the country no longer suffers a generation shortage. Instead, it lacks the flexibility to shift abundant midday solar power into the evening peak, a weakness that leaves it exposed to swings in global fuel markets. The remedy, he argued, is heavy investment in battery storage and a more flexible grid.
"Let me be very direct about where we stand," Mr Leghari told the Solar Storage Flexibility 2026 conference in Islamabad. "Pakistan does not have a generation problem anymore… What we have is a flexibility problem." The difficulty, he explained, is moving plentiful daytime solar output to the hours when demand peaks after dark.
The minister tied the issue to geopolitics. The conflict between Iran and America, he said, has shown how external events can rattle energy markets. Volatile oil prices, shipping risks through the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty in global fuel markets are not abstract worries, in his telling, but immediate concerns for countries such as Pakistan.
Pakistan still imports most of the fuel that powers a large part of its thermal generating fleet. Such disruptions, Mr Leghari said, pose a direct threat to the country's fiscal stability and to household living costs, making energy security as much an economic question as a technical one.
The country has already faced a real-world test. In April, disruption to supplies of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) from Qatar forced a return to night-time load-shedding. During the day, however, solar power kept the lights on, exposing the gap between daytime abundance and evening scarcity.
That experience shapes the government's view of batteries. Battery energy storage, the minister said, is not merely a tool for balancing the grid but a way to insulate the economy from a volatile world. Stored solar power could reduce reliance on imported fuel during the evening peak.
Renewable sources now account for 55% of Pakistan's electricity mix, according to Mr Leghari. The government aims to raise the share of clean energy to 90% by 2035, a target he said storage would turn into an operable, bankable and deliverable plan. Without storage, he warned, the country's solar boom risks becoming a curtailment problem, with surplus power wasted when it cannot be used. With storage, it could become a national asset, giving grid operators the flexibility needed to absorb a high share of renewables.
The government also wants a domestic industry to grow around the technology. Mr Leghari said officials want to see battery packs assembled locally rather than simply imported. The Ministry of Industries is drafting a local manufacturing policy, due to be finalised soon, that would offer incentives for domestic production.
Co-ordination is another priority. A National Steering Committee on Battery Energy Storage Systems has been set up, bringing together regulators, transmission and distribution companies and technical experts to provide the sector with unified direction.
The ambition is clear, though the challenge is considerable. Moving from 55% to 90% clean energy within a decade will require not just more solar panels but a grid able to store and deliver their output when it is needed. How quickly batteries can be deployed, and whether local manufacturing takes root, may determine whether Pakistan's solar surge proves a lasting strength or a stranded surplus.