Karachi: At a time when Pakistan’s economy is straining under the weight of crippling energy costs, capacity payments, and an unsustainable reliance on imported fuels, a powerful counter-narrative is rapidly gaining momentum: solar energy is no longer an alternative—it is an inevitability. This unmistakable message resonated forcefully at the Pakistan Solar Association’s (PSA) annual dinner in Karachi, a landmark event that underlined the sector’s growing confidence, unity, and strategic clarity.
The PSA reaffirmed its unwavering resolve to extend full support to stakeholders across government, energy, business, and industry to harness Pakistan’s vast clean energy potential. The objective is not merely environmental stewardship but nothing short of industrialisation, economic self-reliance, and long-term national resilience. Held in Karachi —the country’s commercial nerve centre—the event marked PSA’s first major gathering in the city and drew an impressive cross-section of solar companies, distributors, sellers, and industry leaders. Energy Update served as the exclusive media partner.
Welcoming the participants, PSA Chairman Waqas Moosa delivered a data-driven yet hard-hitting address that captured both the scale of the opportunity and the urgency of action. He noted that despite Pakistan already achieving a record 40 gigawatts of solar installations, the domestic market still has the capacity to expand by an additional eight to 10 gigawatts, driven largely by rapid population growth and rising energy demand.
More importantly, Moosa framed solar energy not as a luxury or niche solution, but as the most practical pathway to affordable, uninterrupted electricity for domestic, commercial, and industrial consumers alike—while causing minimal environmental harm compared to fossil-fuel-based power generation with its massive carbon footprint.
In a bold critique of the existing energy architecture, he argued that the promotion of solar energy could help Pakistan finally free itself from the stranglehold of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), whose electricity remains prohibitively expensive, particularly for industry. With industrial competitiveness eroded by soaring tariffs, solar power, he said, offers a rare convergence of economic sense and environmental responsibility.
Moosa stressed that harnessing Pakistan’s immense solar potential is the only sustainable way forward to deliver real relief to consumers across sectors by ensuring electricity at the lowest possible cost. He proposed an innovative and socially responsible approach: surplus electricity generated by net-metering rooftop solar systems should be channelled to underprivileged areas of Karachi that continue to endure hours-long power outages. In doing so, solar energy could simultaneously address inequity and inefficiency within the power distribution system.
Highlighting the stark developmental gap, Moosa pointed out that Pakistan’s per capita electricity consumption stands at a meagre 650 kilowatt-hours per person per year, compared to nearly 3,000 kilowatt-hours in developed economies—a disparity directly linked to low industrial activity and output. Karachi, he emphasised, remains a vast and largely untapped market for renewable energy, with enormous potential for household, commercial, and industrial solar installations.
Echoing these sentiments, FPCCI Senior Vice-President Saquib Fayyaz Magoon delivered a candid assessment of Pakistan’s energy dilemma. He lamented that while the rest of the world has aggressively transitioned towards renewable energy, Pakistan has failed to fully exploit its abundant clean energy resources. In this context, he stressed that associations like the PSA must play a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of alternative energy across the country.
Magoon made it clear that the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) stands firmly behind the PSA’s mission, describing solar energy as indispensable for the survival, growth, and expansion of Pakistan’s industrial base. “Abundant clean energy generation is not just essential for industries but for Pakistan as a whole to ensure progress and advancement,” he asserted.
He pledged that the FPCCI would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the PSA at every forum to persuade the government against imposing undue restrictions on solar energy usage for domestic, commercial, and industrial consumers. In a particularly significant policy suggestion, Magoon urged the government to waive capacity payments for industries for at least one year. Such a step, he argued, would dramatically reduce energy costs, revive industrial activity, and ultimately increase overall electricity consumption—offering a practical solution to the problem of idle power plants.
Lower tariffs, he said, would enable Pakistani products to compete effectively in international markets, with solar energy playing a decisive role in restoring export competitiveness and industrial confidence.
The evening also underscored the importance of unity and collective action within the clean energy sector. Former PSA chairmen Rana Abbas and Amir Chaudhry urged members to remain united and proactive, recalling the sector’s exemplary mobilisation during the foreign exchange crisis when imports were restricted. That episode, they noted, proved that organised advocacy and collective resolve can overcome even the most formidable challenges.
Adding a forward-looking dimension, Muhammad Zakir Ali, CEO of Inverex Solar Energy, called upon the PSA to take its conventions beyond Karachi and Lahore to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These regions, he said, represent vast untapped clean energy markets that could transform local economies while strengthening national energy security.
The event concluded with the presentation of special awards to high-performing solar energy companies, dealers, and sellers—an acknowledgement not only of commercial success, but of their contribution to a national cause.
Afaaq Ali Khan Vice Chairman PSA, Faaz Diwan Director Diwan Internationals, Mohammad Jibran and others Representatives also spoke on this occasion.
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