Pakistan poised to green-light clean energy goals

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Pakistan has passed income tax exemptions to prop up a PV manufacturing sector (Credit: ACT Group)

Pakistani targets for 30% of its power mix to come from large-scale hydropower and another 30% from PV, wind and other renewables by 2030 now stand closer to adoption, according to reports.

The World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) shared this week reports that the government’s cabinet committee on energy is to formally consider a national policy for renewables, featuring the twin goals.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The legislative progress of the 2030 targets comes a month after they were outlined by Pakistan’s Power minister Omar Ayub Khan as he met Jean-François Cautain, EU ambassador to the country. “Impressive objectives fully in line with Paris Agreement,” was Cautain’s Twitter reaction at the time.

In recent years, calls have ramped up for Pakistan to push renewable uptake from the current 4% rate. The touted goals, WWEA secretary general Stefan Gsänger said this week, will not only ensure reliable and secure domestic power supply but also help counter the “major challenge” of price increases in Pakistan.

Last October, the country’s Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) said – in remarks aired by The Express Tribute – a 30% target would be the “only viable” strategy to avert power crises caused by overreliance on fast-depleting gas reserves. For its part, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry sought to build in the same month an economic case for a renewable roll-out.

PV braces for grid parity era

The legislative debate on clean energy goals finds Pakistan’s solar industry at a time of growth.

Only this week, IRENA’s annual update singled the country out as a PV highlight after a doubling of installed capacity (742MW to 1.5GW) was recorded between 2017 and 2018. The figures mark a step-up from the AEDB’s PV data for 2015 (100MW) and 2016 (400MW).

Over the years, the board has backed deployment by pushing for tax exemptions for solar technology, standardising documents and offering technical assistance to provincial governments. The AEDB has also helped channel subsidies to IPPs – via a programme coordinated with Pakistan’s power regulator NEPRA – and worked in parallel to encourage other, more market-based investment models.

Further growth is expected as technology costs decline, pushing PV projects to the brink of grid parity. In the past year alone, the pipeline has seen additions including 400MW of World Bank-backed PV in the Sindh Province, Siddiqsons’ 100MW duo, EnerTech’s 50MW project and Aasal’s 49.5MW farm.

In parallel, the country is working to nurture a solar manufacturing ecosystem, with the likes of ACT Group announcing moves to set up 1GW of PV module assembly capacity. The adoption earlier in 2019 of a five-year income tax exemption has been welcomed by manufacturers, although with calls on the government to consider other incentives.

See here for more background on AEDB's plans to promote solar in Pakistan

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

July 10, 2025
German renewables company BayWa r.e. has secured a €3 billion (US$3.5 billion) loan for 'operational initiatives and pipeline expansion.'
July 10, 2025
US renewables developer Invenergy has launched commercial operations of 250MW Fairbanks Solar Energy Center in Sullivan County, Indiana. 
July 10, 2025
A report published by the US Department of Energy (DOE) this week claims that the previous government’s support for renewable energy could cause blackouts to “increase by 100 times” by 2030.
July 10, 2025
Copenhagen Energy has partnered with Thy-Mors Energi to set up a 100MW PV and BESS project in Ballerum, about 370km from Copenhagen. 
July 10, 2025
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced a new AU$60 million (US$39.4 million) funding round to bolster R&D efforts to achieve ultra-low-cost solar.
July 9, 2025
Many European countries generated record levels of solar power in the first half of 2025, according to figures from Fraunhofer ISE.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 22, 2025
Bilbao, Spain
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK