For Pakistan, which is highly dependent on imported energy, 80% of its oil and most of its liquefied natural gas are transported through the Strait of Hormuz. Against this backdrop, distributed solar photovoltaic systems that have become widespread across urban and rural Pakistan in recent years are serving as an energy buffer, ensuring millions of households maintain basic power supply amid the crisis.
In Dasht, a remote village in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, farmer Karim Bakhsh was once trapped in a fuel crisis. For years, he irrigated his fields using a diesel-powered water pump. According to Qatar’s Al Jazeera, after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 triggered the first surge in fuel prices, Bakhsh could no longer afford the expensive diesel for daily use.
“Running the pump on diesel every day has become impossible,” he said.
Water shortages caused his melon fields to wither. In some seasons, he had to reduce his cultivated area.
“No water means no crops, and no crops mean no income,” he added.
Then in 2023, he made a decision that seemed risky at the time: he borrowed 300,000 Pakistani rupees (100 Pakistani rupees is equivalent to roughly 2.4 Chinese yuan) and installed a row of solar panels near his fields. Three years later, this “gamble” has paid off.
“Now I don’t care if diesel prices go up,” he said proudly, pointing to the blazing sun above. “As long as there is sunshine, I can grow watermelons.”
Such stories are common across Pakistan. A bird’s-eye view of cities such as Lahore and Islamabad reveals a distinctive sight: blue solar panels covering rooftops of buildings of varying heights. Even in rural areas, solar panels are ubiquitous—and 95% of these photovoltaic components are imported from China.
As observed by a Global Times correspondent in Pakistan, after millions of Pakistanis suffered repeated power outages in 2022, people began to recognize solar energy as an alternative. With falling solar panel costs and government incentives, solar power has become a lifeline in rural areas with unstable electricity supply. Data from global energy think tank Ember shows that Pakistan’s national share of solar power generation increased fivefold between 2021 and 2025. It is these solar panels spread across cities and villages of this South Asian country that are helping it withstand the energy crisis sparked by tensions in the Middle East.
Hassanbi, a farmer in rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told reporters that amid soaring electricity prices, the cost of installing solar panels can be recovered within two to three years. Moreover, thanks to their reliable quality and practicality, Hassanbi said that in his village, a Chinese solar panel can even be given as part of a dowry—“practical, modern and innovative.”
The widespread adoption of solar energy has reduced the country’s vulnerability to energy crises to a certain extent. Nabiha Imran, partner at Pakistani energy and environmental think tank Renewables First, stated that although conflicts in the Middle East will inevitably bring shocks, the expansion of distributed solar energy in Pakistan has cushioned the impact of the energy crisis. Imran stated bluntly:
“If Pakistan had not developed solar energy, the situation would have been far worse.”
Back in Dasht, Bakhsh is busy loading fruits and melons onto pickups and trucks bound for nearby markets. Despite volatile fuel prices and uncertainties in downstream transportation, he now controls the certainty of his production, no longer at the mercy of turbulent global events.
“No matter what happens, water will flow to the fields.”
Surge in Sales of Electric Vehicles and Photovoltaic Products
Faced with fluctuating oil prices and supply gaps, governments and companies around the world are recalculating their energy “cost accounts.” The transformation taking place in Pakistan’s farmlands is rapidly coalescing into a global wave of energy transition.
In Laos, fuel shortages have led more than 40% of gas stations nationwide to suspend operations, with long queues forming at pumps in many regions. Many people wait for hours to fill just a few liters of fuel. Against this backdrop, Chinese electric two-wheelers have unexpectedly boomed in popularity. At stores in downtown Vientiane, several Chinese electric vehicle brands were once sold out, facing severe supply shortages.
Hong Kong-based The Bastille Post quoted a person in charge of an electric motorcycle company in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, China, saying that the company’s inventory in Southeast Asian markets was nearly sold out, requiring urgent restocking.
“Orders have increased sharply recently. In March alone, we exported more than 6,000 electric bicycles, and April shipments will exceed 7,000. Our production orders are scheduled through July.”
“In recent years, Chinese electric vehicles have enjoyed strong growth in markets such as Australia, and even before the current crisis, they were rapidly expanding in the Southeast Asian electric two-wheeler market,” said Tan Hao, professor of management at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. “The recent rise in oil prices will further accelerate this trend.”
Beyond electric mobility, the transition to renewable energy has accelerated significantly in many regions. Reuters reported that from Indonesia to Uruguay, sales of electric vehicles continue to surge, with adoption rates far outpacing those in the United States. In India, concerns over natural gas supply security have led to a sharp rise in sales of induction cookers. In several developing countries, photovoltaic installations are entering a period of rapid growth. In Nigeria, more households and businesses are abandoning backup generators in favor of solar energy systems. Many European governments are also increasing investment in renewable energy. Germany recently launched an �8 billion program to expand wind power capacity and subsidize electric vehicle sales.
Today’s global preference for green energy stems not entirely from environmental awareness, but because they have become the most economical choice on the balance sheet. The dramatic decline in costs for solar panels and wind turbines in recent years has accelerated this transition. A United Nations analysis last year noted that the cost of generating electricity from more than 90% of new renewable energy projects worldwide is already lower than that of traditional fossil fuels.
In this cost revolution, Chinese manufacturing is playing a key role as a vital “toolkit.” Research by think tank platform VoxEU shows that thanks to economies of scale and technological advances in China’s photovoltaic industry, the cost of solar power generation fell by more than 90% in just one decade (2004–2013). This shift has fundamentally reshaped the logic of global energy access, enabling clean energy to compete with fossil fuels and significantly helping other countries reduce carbon emissions.
Khaled, an economics professor and energy expert at Helwan University in Egypt, told the Global Times on April 8:
“When oil prices are driven up by conflicts, desert sunshine becomes far more reliable.”
He believes that energy shocks stemming from Middle East tensions are forcing developing countries to rethink energy security. In Khaled’s view, the reality is clear:
“Oil brings risks, but the sun brings confidence.”
China Emerges as a “Super Security Lever” Shifting the Global Energy Landscape
“Renewable energy and related technologies are increasingly viewed as tools for energy security,” said María Ángeles Escrivá, senior researcher for energy and climate at the Elcano Royal Institute, a Madrid-based think tank, in an interview with CNBC. After the conflicts in the Middle East, countries’ perceptions of renewable energy will “definitely” change. The shift to clean energy is no longer merely an environmental choice, but increasingly seen as a path to strengthening domestic energy security.
A December 2023 report by Ember showed that “electrification-related technologies”—including solar, wind, batteries, and electrified transport, heating and industry—became the main driver of global energy growth last year, a trend largely driven by China becoming the world’s first “electrified nation.”
Ember research manager Dave Jones compared this transition to Europe’s earlier energy shift. In his view, just as the crisis in Ukraine forced Europe to reduce its reliance on natural gas, turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz will push Asia to lower its dependence on oil. The difference is that the technologies available this time are much cheaper. Electric vehicles alone could save oil-importing countries more than $600 billion annually in oil expenditures. Jones described this shift as a “super security lever” reshaping the global energy landscape.
For countries with limited foreign exchange reserves such as Pakistan, this “lever” has arrived at the right time. Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Institute for Energy Policy Studies at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on April 8 that for countries highly vulnerable to energy shortages caused by international oil crises, China’s green energy solutions precisely address this challenge. This is not only about the need for green and low-carbon transition; more importantly, green energy is inherently a domestic energy source. And this sense of security is not a distant prospect. The advantage of China’s model lies in its extremely fast deployment—projects can be completed in as little as six months, making it the most effective short-term response to energy shortages.
Lin Boqiang believes that the recent shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz will prompt many countries to adjust their energy strategies. China’s green development path of “wind-solar-storage + electric vehicles” ensures energy security while supporting green transition. The maturity of this model provides a feasible reference for the world in responding to energy crises.
And this may be more than just a temporary substitute. Fortune magazine analyzed that the oil embargo of the 1970s led U.S. drivers to switch to fuel-efficient Japanese cars, and they never returned to American vehicles. Sustained price surges could lead to permanent shifts in consumption patterns—when high oil prices force households and businesses to make a fundamental switch from fossil fuels to electricity, “demand destruction” for old energy sources has already occurred in substance.
A new development path has clearly emerged.
“People once thought economic development must rely on fossil fuels, but the current energy crisis has once again exposed the fragility of this path, especially for emerging economies that spend tens of billions of dollars annually on fuel imports,” said Dan Walsh, head of Ember. He emphasized:
“Unlike before, a viable alternative now exists: electrification technologies are not only cheaper, more accessible and scalable, but also offer the broad prospect of energy independence and abundance, thereby driving economic growth.”
(Global Times reporters Xiao Zhendong, Li Xundian; Global Times special correspondent Huang Peizhao in Egypt; Global Times special correspondent Huang Xiaona in Pakistan)
