ISLAMABAD:
The dying solar grid metering has saved Pakistan from daytime load shedding at a time when the country is going through the worst power crisis.
Meanwhile, authorities have ramped up furnace oil-based power generation to full capacity while delaying scheduled maintenance at nuclear power plants in a bid to maintain electricity supplies amid worsening LNG shortages.
Disruptions in liquefied natural gas flows, linked to regional instability after the Iran war, have strained the country’s energy mix, forcing it to rely on more expensive thermal options.
At the same time, reduced reservoir discharges have curtailed hydropower production, further tightening supply.
The growing penetration of solar power has eased demand during the day, but shifted the burden to evening hours, exacerbating shortages after sunset.
Power Sharing Minister Awais Khan Leghari on Thursday attributed the prolonged outages to the reduction in LNG-based and hydel-based power generation due to the recent Iran-US war, which had crippled oil and LNG supplies following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“For every 500 to 600 megawatts of deficit, about one hour of load shedding is required,” he said, adding that the current deficit had necessitated six to seven hours of load shedding.
This means that solar net metering has saved four hours of load reduction in the country. At present, the country has installed solar net metering capacity of up to 8,000 MW.
Leghari clarified that no load shedding was carried out during daytime hours as demand remained lower and generation was adequate, while load management was primarily implemented during peak hours at night.
He said the government ensured fair distribution of load shedding across urban and rural areas and had recently extended outages to industrial sectors after household consumers began facing longer outages.
He also apologized to the masses who were facing prolonged power outages. “If the public faces any inconvenience due to unavailable electricity at night and during peak hours, I am directly responsible,” he said, adding, “We apologize but the circumstances are beyond our control”.
LNG facilities in Qatar had been hit during the Iran-Israel war, leading to the suspension of LNG supplies to Pakistan.
The Energy Minister claimed that there was no load shedding during the day. However, he skipped informing the nation that solar net meter owners had saved the country from daytime load shedding by injecting over 2,000 MW of electricity.
The energy minister is an architect behind the introduction of the net metering policy for solar energy, which had shelved future plans for solar net metering.
While addressing a press conference, Leghari said the country was facing a deficit of 3,400MW, forcing electricity distribution companies to cope through peak-hour load shedding.
Due to solar net metering, the peak load time has shifted to night time, where the country has experienced a peak load of 20,000 MW of electricity.
However, these plants too had disappeared throughout the saga, which received over Rs1.2 trillion to Rs2 trillion in capacity payments annually.
“The new solar net metering policy had been introduced not to save consumers, but it was meant to generate money to pay capacity payments for the power plants that were shut down and are receiving huge money,” say experts.
“A significant decline in liquefied natural gas (LNG)-based and hydel power generation amid the prevailing situation in the Gulf region, electricity demand in April had witnessed sharp fluctuations ranging from around 9,000 megawatts to as high as 20,000 megawatts on April 15, reflecting a rapid increase for a short period of around April 2,” 3,200 MW of electricity was generated from hydel sources and 3,000 MW from LNG. Fuel oil-based production had remained minimal due to its high cost.
However, he said gas supply to most LNG-based power plants had been suspended. “Out of a total LNG-based generation capacity of about 6,000 megawatts, only about 500 megawatts are currently being produced, also using alternative fuel,” he said, adding that hydel production had also dropped to about 1,600 MW in April.
He argued that this had further widened the gap between demand and supply. The decline was due to lower water discharges from large reservoirs such as Tarbela and Mangla.
The provinces demanded less water due to the prevailing weather conditions and ongoing harvesting of crops. He added that water could not be released solely for electricity production, as it is primarily reserved for agricultural needs.
He maintained that fuel oil-based plants were operating at full capacity; however, the system still had a deficit of approx. 3,400 MW.
Leghari added that some southern regions, including areas served by HESCO and K-Electric, did not face further load shedding due to relatively better power availability.
He claimed to have reduced costs over the past few years, resulting in a 3.8% increase in demand.
He also maintained that the government followed the judicious use of electricity, especially during peak hours.
Hydropower generation was around 3,200 MW in April 2025, which has fallen to around 1,671 MW this year due to reduced water discharges from Mangla and Tarbela.
The Minister said that no off-peak daytime relief was or would be carried out.
“When the demand rises above 16,500 MW, power from gas-based plants is required. In the absence of gas, the country has limited options to meet the demand,” he said.
Responding to comments regarding the country’s installed capacity of 46,000MW, he said it did not translate into available generation under current fuel constraints.
“There is installed capacity, which is why there was no load shedding until April,” he said.
