• Move aims to manage renewable intermittency, reduce frequency fluctuations, minister says
• Clean energy share rises to 46pc, surpassing 2025 capacity target
ISLAMABAD: The government is working on large, utility-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to ensure stability of the national grid, which is currently facing challenges such as frequency fluctuations caused by the induction of intermittent renewable energy sources faster than planned targets.
“The government … is pursuing the development of large-scale battery energy storage systems through private-sector investments to address the intermittency of variable renewable energy, optimise grid demand management, and enhance overall system stability,” Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari told the National Assembly in a written statement on Friday.
In response to a series of questions from various MNAs, the minister also confirmed that the government was gradually moving away from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as part of its policy to reduce reliance on imported fuels amid higher capacity contracts, increasing induction of indigenous renewables, and stagnant demand.
Clean energy share
The minister said the clean energy share in the country had reached 46 per cent by September 2025 against the government’s 40pc capacity target for 2025.
He added that the government had set ambitious targets under its various power policies to increase the share of on-grid renewable energy capacity to 40pc by 2025 and 60pc by 2030.
Currently, 60 private-sector renewable energy projects with a cumulative capacity of 4,753MW are operational, including 680MW of solar, 1,937MW of run-of-river hydropower, 1,845MW of wind, and 291MW of bagasse cogeneration.
Alongside 9,619MW of public-sector hydropower and 100MW of solar in K-Electric’s system, renewables account for more than 37pc of the generation mix.
“Net-metering-based solar photovoltaic [PV] has further added 6,390MW as of September 2025, raising the clean energy share to approximately 46pc, thereby surpassing the government’s 40pc renewable energy capacity target for 2025,” the minister said.
In parallel, the minister said the government had finalised an initial quantum of 800MW for the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market framework to provide market access to renewable energy producers and enable large consumers to enter into direct supply contracts with producers of their choice, subject to a wheeling charge of about Rs13 per unit.
Mr Leghari emphasised that the availability of reliable, efficient, eco-friendly, and affordable electricity was crucial for sustainable economic growth. “Therefore, the government is prioritising the effective use of renewable and indigenous energy sources through its national policies aimed at diversifying the energy mix by promoting clean and renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, and bagasse,” he added.
LNG reliance
Discussing LNG diversion, the minister reported that dependence on imported fuel plants had comparatively reduced in recent years, and priority was being given to the utilisation of local energy resources, including Thar coal, solar, wind, bagasse, and hydropower, to minimise reliance on imported fuels.
He conceded that dependence on imported LNG had comparatively decreased in recent years. “This policy shift is primarily aimed at promoting indigenous and renewable energy resources and ensuring least-cost dispatch in the overall generation mix,” he added.
He continued that the government was actively promoting the adoption of solar energy technology at the consumer level across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.
He said the net-metering regulations provided a framework for integrating solar and wind generation systems of up to 1MW capacity, enabling consumers to offset their electricity consumption and contribute to the national grid. This included certification of service providers and installers of solar and wind systems to ensure safe, secure, and quality-assured deployment of products, installation, and maintenance.
To another question, the minister also testified to parliament that load management was being carried out across the distribution system on the basis of average technical and commercial (ATC) losses, and no loadshedding was carried out due to generation shortfall.
