Solar power growth creates challenges to national grid: expert

A Chinese energy expert has warned that the rapid expansion of decentralized solar power in Pakistan is placing additional pressure on the national grid and increasing costs for consumers who cannot afford solar systems. Prof. Dr Yixian Sun from the University of Bath, UK, said Pakistan has spent over USD 10 billion on solar imports without capturing industrial or economic spill-overs. He stated this at the launch ofthe policy report, titled “From Solar Boom to Green Industrialization: Policy Pathways to Localizing Solar Value Chains in Pakistan,” by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the University of Bath, on Monday. Highlighting global trends, he noted that Chinese companies have invested over USD 200 billion in solar manufacturing abroad in the last three years, particularly in Southeast Asia, while Pakistan has attracted almost none.