The Power Division Advisor, Syed Faizan Ali, has proposed setting up a Time-of-Use (ToU) net billing, with additional compensation of Rs 18-22 per kWh for electricity discharged during the 5-10 pm evening peak. The proposal is supported by 30 months of customs data indicating that between January 2024 and June 2026, Pakistan imported over 6 GWh of Lithium-ion batteries, with monthly volumes increasing to 652 MWh in April 2026. These numbers point towards a structural shift in Pakistan’s energy markets, with battery storage now scaling at a pace that demands a corresponding policy response.
This trend is consistent with the recommendations of PRIME. In the April 2026 edition of Prime Plus, following the escalation of regional conflict and rising energy security concerns, PRIME suggested accelerating investment in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to address renewable energy variability and manage the risk of rising evening peak demand. The recommendation called for both utility-scale and behind-the-meter storage, supported by fiscal incentives and concessional finance. The latest import data indicates that private investment has moved in this exact direction, substantially ahead of any official policy.
The ToU proposal addresses a real gap. Currently, prosumers are paid a flat rate under the current net billing/net metering system, irrespective of the amount of electricity they are exporting to the grid. For example, a prosumer discharging power into the grid at midday earns the same as one who discharges stored energy at 7 pm, when the system is at peak demand. The proposed ToU structure would solve this by rewarding battery discharge when the grid requires it the most, aligning private investment decisions with system-wide efficiency.
However, pricing reform alone is not sufficient. Pakistan is importing batteries at a pace of more than 5 GWh per year; however, there are no compulsory battery standards or grid connection rules, a national battery registry or a framework for end-of-life battery management. NEPRA’s prosumer regulations for late 2025 remain incomplete.
There is also a distributional risk worth noting. Battery adoption is concentrated among commercial, industrial, and affluent residential customers, the same groups who cross-subsidise lower tariff segments. Fixed costs such as generation capacity, transmission, and capacity charges do not disappear as grid dependence decreases. They are passed on to consumers who remain completely reliant on the grid and are least able to withstand increased rates. If storage is considered solely as a passive consumer backup, it has the potential to accelerate partial grid defection and exacerbate Pakistan’s circular debt cost-recovery problem.
There is a need to ensure that batteries remain connected to and actively participate in the grid, rather than functioning purely as private backup systems. This means enabling battery owners to discharge stored energy during peak demand hours to ease grid pressure, respond to utility signals during periods of system stress, and help stabilise local voltage levels. These services benefit the wider electricity system while also creating additional revenue streams for battery owners.
Moreover, there is an absence of solar aggregation service providers in Pakistan’s battery market. Currently, in Pakistan, no such provider can pool distributed battery capacity across households, commercial and industrial sites and operate it as a single dispatchable resource for the grid. Without aggregators, the ToU structure is limited to individual prosumer-DISCO transactions, which limits its size. Allowing licensed aggregators to combine tiny batteries into virtual power plants would transform fragmented private investments into a unified grid asset.