Parliamentarians and energy experts have urged the government to reconsider long-term energy contracts that could lock Pakistan into costly take-or-pay obligations and add to circular debt, calling for greater flexibility in LNG and other fuel imports as the country’s rapid solar expansion reshapes energy demand.
The calls came during a dialogue titled “The Sun and the Pipeline: Energy Contracts in an Era of Solar Disruption in Pakistan,” organised by the Parliamentary Forum on Energy and Economy in Islamabad. The discussion examined Pakistan’s changing RLNG requirements, global market volatility and geopolitical risks, as well as policy options aimed at maintaining energy security while protecting consumers from rising costs.
Pakistan has deployed an estimated 50 gigawatts of solar capacity in just a few years, largely without public subsidies, across utility-scale projects, net-metered systems, agricultural applications, off-grid installations and behind-the-meter generation.
This capacity is estimated to generate around 54.75 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, equivalent on a gross-energy basis to nearly 1,279 million cubic feet per day of gas-fired generation.
Experts said the scale of solar deployment represents a structural shift that has outpaced many of the assumptions underlying Pakistan’s long-term gas and LNG commitments.
Dr Nafisa Shah, Convener of the Parliamentary Forum on Energy and Economy and Member of the National Assembly, said Pakistan needed to revisit its energy mix and regulatory framework to reflect the rapid growth of distributed solar generation.
She said long-term take-or-pay contracts had contributed to expensive electricity and stressed that future energy planning should account for the changing demand profile created by solar power.
Asim Riaz, Energy Adviser at the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association, said Pakistan’s LNG challenge was no longer limited to securing supplies.
He said the expansion of solar had changed the timing and volume of RLNG demand, making flexibility, affordability and market design increasingly important in determining the type of LNG portfolio Pakistan could sustain.
Syed Faizan Shah, Energy Expert and Adviser to the Power Minister, said Pakistan should focus on building an energy system that is more resilient to external price shocks and more efficient across generation, transmission and distribution.
He said expanding indigenous solar generation, supported by battery energy storage and other modern technologies, could improve system flexibility and reliability, reduce losses, optimise existing infrastructure and offer consumers greater protection against fluctuations in international fuel prices.
