The Centre for Regional Policy & Dialogue (CRPD) organised an advocacy seminar at the Peshawar Press Club on 9 September 2026, titled Energy Crisis in Pakhtunkhwa: Review of Solar Energy as Green & Sustainable Solution to examine the persistent energy crisis in Pakhtunkhwa and explore decentralised solar energy, supported by Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), as a practical and sustainable response. The seminar brought together political, engineering and academic perspectives to examine challenges related to energy access, affordability, governance, distribution and the environmental implications of the province’s current energy pathway.
Despite its substantial energy resources, particularly hydropower potential, many households, businesses and public institutions across Pakhtunkhwa continue to face unreliable electricity supply, limited access and high costs. Against this backdrop, the seminar sought to examine the underlying causes of these persistent gaps and to consider an energy approach centred on affordability, resilience, local access and meaningful provincial decision-making. Particular attention was given to the limitations of relying predominantly on large, centrally managed power projects and to the potential of distributed solar energy combined with storage. The discussion also aimed to strengthen public dialogue on the province’s role in energy generation, transmission and distribution, as well as the use of energy revenues.
The proceedings developed as an integrated discussion of the political, technical, environmental and economic dimensions of the energy crisis. While speakers approached the issue from different professional perspectives, the discussion broadly converged on the view that expanding generation capacity alone would not resolve energy deprivation in the province. Sustainable improvement would also require greater attention to governance, transmission and distribution systems, energy storage, affordability and local access, alongside a more decentralised and locally responsive energy framework.
