Widespread adoption of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Pakistan will reduce demand from the national electricity grid by up to 8.4 percent, according to a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
But the shift is increasing the financial burden on those who continue to rely on grid electricity.
The IEEFA report, Battery Storage and the Future of Pakistan’s Electricity Grid, highlights that between FY2019 and FY2025, Pakistan imported 32.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, 5.2 GW of which arrived in the first half of FY2025. Of this, only about half is estimated to be installed, with 11.5 GW believed to be used in off-grid systems.
If all net-metered installations were paired with batteries of equal capacity, annual grid demand could fall by 1.5 terawatt-hours (TWh). In a more likely scenario, grid demand could decline by 11.5 TWh, or 8.4 percent of total electricity usage.
In 2024 alone, Pakistan imported 1.25 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of lithium-ion batteries, followed by 400 megawatt-hours (MWh) in the first two months of 2025. These imports could offset 438 GWh of grid demand annually, based on daily charge-discharge cycles.
The shift toward decentralised solar and battery systems is helping consumers lower energy costs and grid dependency. However, it is also weakening the financial sustainability of the national grid.
IEEFA warns that without reforms, this trend could worsen cost inequities in the power sector, with a shrinking number of users bearing a growing share of the system’s fixed costs.