Pakistan is silently undergoing a battery revolution. With a 5.6kW lithium battery and a 6kW solar panel, you can now store backup energy for three to four hours with high load (including a 1.5 ton AC) and up to seven to eight hours without high load. 

“Since the installation of the lithium battery two months ago, I hardly get any bill from Wapda (Water and Power Development Authority). I have installed a hybrid inverter, which means I store energy and also send it to the grid; and this month, my bill was -23,000 rupees,” says Ikhlaq, a solar engineer. He seems very satisfied with his decision to go fully solar with lithium batteries for backup storage.

Batteries boom and recording-breaking imports 

There has been an unprecedented surge in the import and use of lithium-ion batteries in the country. 

“Just a few years ago, lithium batteries were too costly and had only niche use i.e. mobile batteries, but now they’re everywhere,” says Abdul Razzaq, a vendor of solar panels and batteries who runs a shop in Lahore. Initially, he wasn’t even dealing in batteries, but seeing the rising demand, he started selling lithium batteries six months ago. Now, he sells more than 50 units each month — a move he calls ‘a highly successful decision’.

He believes that in the near future, he will be able to expand his business to 100 units a month, which “is a common sale average for sellers dealing in lithium batteries for the last couple of years”.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), imports of electrical storage batteries from China rose from $51.6 million in 2023 to over $65 million in 2024. In just first five months of 2025, imports have already crossed $62 million and are on track to break all previous records. The 2025 five-month figure is nearly three times the amount imported during the same period in 2024, and over 3.5 times the value in 2023. 

Mujahid, an importer, who has been sourcing batteries and solar panels from China for six years, confirms the spike: “Where we used to order one container, now it’s around four to five.” 

When asked if officials are aware of this surge, an electricity distribution company (DISCO) official, who requested anonymity, says: “The growing shift towards solar energy combined with lithium battery storage, especially among the SMEs (small and medium enterprises), is becoming increasingly noticeable.”

Doubts about net-metering policy behind the surge 

There are a few key reasons why lithium batteries are becoming so popular now.

Mehdi, who installs solar systems, first points to a market shift in China: “China is moving to newer batteries like lithium iron phosphate and sodium-ion. That makes older lithium-ion batteries cheaper. These older models are now being sold at lower prices, and importers are bringing them in large quantities here,” he explains.

But more importantly, he and Abdul Razaq highlight a local reason: the Pakistan government’s proposed changes to net-metering policy. Earlier, solar users in Pakistan were paid around Rs22–27 per unit for the extra electricity they sent to the national grid. But in March 2025, the government announced a plan to slash this rate to Rs10 per unit, announcing a major shift toward a net-billing system, where solar producers are paid less for the electricity they export, while still having to buy electricity from the grid at full retail price around Rs35–40 per unit.

“Such reports shook the belief of consumers and sent waves of uncertainty regarding the government’s energy policy, which led to people shifting away from the grid towards becoming as self-sufficient in energy as possible,” says Ikhlaq.

Razaq supports this concern among customers: “Earlier, people used on-grid inverters (devices that send solar energy straight to the grid) with panels and tubular lead-acid batteries. But now, with the potential policy change, people prefer to store their electricity in lithium batteries and rely less on the grid.”

The DISCO official states, “The revision of net-metering rates is a part of a broader effort to ensure the sustainability of incentives while balancing the financial health of the sector.”

Four for one: The battery math

Another reason for this shift is the high utility and long life of lithium batteries.

“One lithium battery stores as much power as four tubular batteries. And these batteries last a minimum of 15 years,” says Jahanzaib Khan, who works in the sale and import of inverters and batteries. He adds that the market has completely transformed.

“Two years ago, it was about 60% on-grid and 40% hybrid systems. Now, because of these new batteries, it’s only 20% on-grid and 80% hybrid.” 

A standard 5kW lithium battery costs between Rs250,000 and Rs300,000. While many domestic users install 5kW setups, larger commercial systems go up to 15kW. 

“Last month, we installed a 14kW system for a hospital that now runs entirely on lithium batteries at night,” Razzaq gives an example. 

Growing interest of EV sector 

Solar engineer Ikhlaq also believes that commercial users are rapidly shifting to hybrid systems with lithium batteries (sending to the grid, plus storing energy for themselves). 

“Many companies are now assembling as huge as 50kW high-power storage banks for commercial use.” 

The biggest users of these batteries are households and small commercial units, but the electric vehicle (EV) sector is also showing interest.

“People used to complain about short battery life in EVs, but lithium batteries solve that problem,” says Attia Nayab, who runs an EV company that imports lithium cells from China and assembles bikes in Pakistan. 

Increased demand has made the market more competitive, leading to a 50pc drop in prices. Partial local assembly is lowering prices further. 

“People are importing lithium cells, which are then assembled into batteries here in Pakistan. These locally assembled batteries are even cheaper than fully imported ones,” says Mehdi. 

However, an average solar setup with lithium batteries typically costs around Rs700,000, which most users cannot afford. This means that the relatively affluent minority is benefiting from the battery boom, while the rest remain dependent on the grid and, indirectly, carry the burden of those who conveniently shifted to batteries.

When the grid loses its customers

This scenario will have serious impacts on the grid too. “As more commercial consumers, particularly SMEs, reduce their dependence on the grid, the overall demand profile on the central system, which operates on a cross-subsidy model, may shrink, especially during peak solar production hours,” the DISCO official explains. 

“This is leading to underutilization of existing generation capacity, creating revenue pressures for distribution companies (DISCOs) that rely on these customers to cover grid maintenance and operational costs. Similar patterns have been observed globally, such as in Australia and certain US states, where utilities have had to rethink their tariff structures and business models to remain financially sustainable in the face of decentralisation.

Outdated energy infrastructure needs modernization 

But is there any opportunity that comes with the situation mentioned above? Muhammad Saeed, an expert in renewable energy management, believes there is. Drawing from his experience with German grid managers, he says, “Germany also considered this a threat in the early 2000s, but then they converted it into an opportunity.” 

Explaining how Germany embraced a bilateral trading market, he says, “One can buy energy anytime they want, and sell it to whoever they want. You can do independent contracts. Electricity is constantly available, and online trading happens just like the stock exchange. This opens up the market for private players. Once this happens, network charges become transparent, and this benefits everyone: producers, consumers, and the government”. Yet, the shift won’t be easy. “Our current energy infrastructure is not capable enough to handle such modernization,” Saeed admits.

He suggests that at the feeder level, 40% of feeders should be solarized, grid reinforcement is essential and forecasting stations and smart inverters must be introduced to protect the grid from damage. 

The DISCO official agrees with Saeed: “Pakistan’s power sector remains heavily centralised and governed by the public sector, which tends to resist rapid adaptation. We’ll need accelerated investment in smart grids, digital infrastructure, and real-time data systems to support this shift. Parallel to that, long-term tariff reforms will be key to ensuring the financial viability of the sector while protecting vulnerable consumer segments”.

An encouraging development, he adds, is that K-Electric’s solar subsidiary, K-Solar, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei Technologies to deploy large-scale battery energy storage systems, EV charging infrastructure, and microgrids across Pakistan.