Overview
- Energy Minister Awais Leghari said at the Solar/Storage/Flexibility 2026 conference that Pakistan no longer has a generation shortfall but needs grid flexibility to move midday solar into evening peak demand.
- The government said its Battery Energy Storage System policy is in its final stage and that a National Steering Committee, technical working groups and pilot storage projects have been approved to coordinate deployment.
- Citing Tuesday’s conference, officials confirmed a push for local battery assembly and a manufacturing policy from the Ministry of Industries to cut import dependence and create jobs.
- Leghari said negotiations with the International Monetary Fund have continued for months and the IMF has not approved Pakistan’s proposed time-of-use off-peak tariff, a constraint that limits the business model for storing and selling daytime solar.
- The shift follows RLNG supply disruptions earlier this year that forced night-time load shedding despite ample daytime solar, and it comes as renewables now supply about 55 percent of electricity and the government aims for 90 percent by 2035.