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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Chloé Farand

How Pakistan’s people-led solar boom is easing impact of Middle East energy crisis

Men carry items including a large solar panel through flood water
Men salvage belongings including a solar panel from their flooded home in Jaffarabad, Pakistan, in September 2022. Photograph: Fareed Khan/AP

After prices of liquefied natural gas surged to record highs after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, millions of people in Pakistan were repeatedly left without electricity. An intense heatwave and gas shortages amid record-breaking prices resulted in power cuts across the country.

But people soon started to realise there was an alternative. The falling costs of solar panels and generous government incentives to feed excess power back to the grid made rooftop solar an attractive option.

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