SDPI’s conference: pace of solar adoption brings questions into sharper focus

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s rapid expansion of solar energy has yet to be matched by the regulatory stability, affordable financing and infrastructure needed to sustain the shift away from fossil fuels, raising concerns over its implications for industrial competitiveness and energy security.

The challenges came under discussion at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s (SDPI) 29th Sustainable Development Conference, themed “Rethinking Development in an Age of Disruption,” where government officials, energy specialists and industry representatives examined the economic and environmental implications of the transition.

While the government outlined plans to expand renewable generation and discourage new fossil fuel-based power projects, participants pointed to inconsistent policies, inadequate storage facilities and weak coordination between federal and provincial authorities as obstacles to long-term investment.

Lt Gen Muhammad Zafar Iqbal (retd), Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Energy, said approximately 7,000 megawatts of solar capacity had been added over the past five years, largely through investments by consumers rather than government-led projects.

He said another 11,000 megawatts of hydropower was planned over the next decade, while no new coal, re-gasified liquefied natural gas or furnace-oil power plants would be added. The government was also targeting a 30 percent share for electric vehicles in new vehicle sales by 2030.

However, the pace of solar adoption has brought questions of electricity storage, grid capacity and reliable industrial supply into sharper focus.

Saadullah Ayaz, Member Mitigation at the Pakistan Climate Change Authority (PCCA), acknowledged that the country’s difficulty lay less in the absence of climate policies than in their inconsistent implementation.

He said policy coherence remained a challenge, particularly where federal and provincial jurisdictions overlapped. The authority’s provincial representation could help improve coordination, but more inclusive policymaking and stronger private-sector engagement were required.

Financing emerged as another constraint, with Ateeque Rehman, Consultant Energy at MPDS, pointing out that high initial costs and limited access to affordable capital continued to discourage industries from investing in cleaner technologies.

He proposed public-private partnership arrangements and financing mechanisms under which repayments could be linked to energy savings, arguing that regulatory predictability was necessary to attract long-term investment.

The discussion also raised questions about whether renewable energy projects were being adequately prepared for climate-related risks.

Muhammad Arif Goheer, Executive Director of the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), warned that solar, wind and hydropower infrastructure could itself be exposed to floods, extreme temperatures and other weather-related disruptions.

He called for climate-risk assessments and facility-level greenhouse gas inventories, noting that businesses needed scientific evidence to assess both their emissions and operational vulnerabilities.

Goheer also cautioned against assuming that agricultural residues were freely available for biomass energy, as some were already used by farmers for livestock feed and other purposes.

The competing demand for agricultural resources was also reflected in concerns over biomass supply chains.

Haseeb Malik, Senior Director, Supply Chain at PepsiCo Pakistan, said unorganised agricultural residue markets and intermediary pricing practices could leave farmers receiving low returns while industries faced higher fuel costs. He advocated more structured supply arrangements and hybrid energy systems combining solar, biomass, batteries and grid electricity.

Mozaharul Alam, Regional Coordinator for Climate Action at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Asia-Pacific office, questioned the long-term effectiveness of businesses responding to climate risks merely by shifting their sourcing locations.

He said companies needed to strengthen the resilience of existing supply chains rather than repeatedly moving between regions exposed to similar climate threats.

The question of who benefits from renewable energy investments was raised by Tobias Klaus, Senior Researcher at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, who warned that rural mini-grids could become unsustainable without community participation, local technical expertise and reliable maintenance systems.

He called for greater grid connectivity and suggested pumped-storage hydropower as a possible long-term storage solution.

Moderating the discussion, SDPI’s Zainab Naeem also highlighted the reluctance of private companies to share emissions data, which complicated national greenhouse gas reporting. She questioned the continued reliance on international consultants when domestic institutions such as GCISC possessed relevant technical expertise.

The discussion reflected a broader challenge for Pakistan: translating rapid renewable energy adoption into a coordinated energy transition that reduces costs and emissions without creating new infrastructure vulnerabilities or leaving farmers and underserved communities outside its economic benefits.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026