The Paradox of Pakistan's Solar Revolution

By Haley Zaremba - Aug 26, 2025

• Pakistan is experiencing a rapid increase in solar-plus-battery systems, which is helping to improve energy security and meet decarbonization pledges.
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• Despite the benefits, the uneven distribution of solar power is hurting the poorest citizens who cannot afford their own systems, leading to increased energy inequality.
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• Addressing this imbalance will require blended financing mechanisms and grid improvements to ensure a more equitable and comprehensive energy transition for all Pakistanis.
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Pakistan is undergoing an energy revolution fuelled by a sharp rise in solar-plus-battery systems. This rapid evolution and decentralization of power grids is helping to shore up the nation’s energy security and meet international decarbonization pledges. However, while the solar boom is helping to keep the lights on for many Pakistanis, it is also hurting the poorest citizens.

Pakistan has long struggled with rolling blackouts, power shortages, and crippling energy costs, and – like many emerging economies around the world – took a particularly hard toll during the 2022-23 energy crisis due to a heavy reliance on energy imports. While oil and gas are still the backbone of the national energy mix, wind and solar power are quickly gaining ground. 

In particular, energy insecurity and high-cost electricity have pushed residences and businesses away from traditional energy models toward decentralized systems, “most notably rooftop solar combined with battery energy storage systems,” according to the World Bank. As this trend picks up speed, Pakistan has quickly become “one of the world's largest new adopters” of solar power, according to reporting from NPR based on data from Ember, a global energy think tank.

"The scale of solar being deployed in such a short period of time has not been seen, I think, anywhere ever before,” says Jan Rosenow, who leads the Environmental Change Institute’s energy program at the University of Oxford.

In 2024, Pakistan’s solar imports more-than tripled compared to 2023, reaching nearly $2.1 billion. Based on current growth trends, solar-plus-battery systems could provide over a quarter of Pakistan’s peak energy demand as well as most daytime electricity needs by 2030. However, the distribution of these new power sources is uneven, and is squeezing families that are too poor to install their own solar power systems or batteries. “As other users reduce their reliance on the grid using these methods, the utility’s fixed costs for maintaining generation and transmission are spread across a shrinking pool of customers,” reports the World Bank. 

What is more, more than 40 million people across Pakistan lack access to electricity altogether. As energy prices rise, closing that gap grows more and more difficult. The scale of the challenge is great, as 45% of Pakistani families live below the poverty line, a number that could grow as rates of energy poverty increase. 

“High-income consumers go solar while nonsolar users absorb the costs,” Hasnat Khan, senior vice chairman of the Pakistan Solar Association, told the Washington Post. “It’s a death spiral.”

Relief may be hard to come by. The national power sector is buckling under $5.6 billion of debt, and is reacting by squeezing customers and getting tough on electricity theft and outstanding payments. “But much of the burden has been passed on to consumers, fueling energy inequality — and what critics contend is a glaring double standard,” reports the Washington Post. “Even as government officials urge Pakistanis not to disconnect from the national grid, many have installed solar panels atop their own mansions, which tower over tall walls topped with barbed wire and are clearly visible from the streets.”

To work toward a more equitable and comprehensive energy transition, the World Bank argues that Pakistan will need financing mechanisms to reduce the initial costs for new users and fund grid improvements for the entire system. This could include low-interest credit and guarantees to reduce lending risks, solar and battery solutions. And Pakistan won’t be able to do it alone. The approach will have to be a ‘blended’ financing mechanism, which uses public and philanthropic capital to attract private investment. Development banks like the ADB and GCF are already facilitating this through projects such as the Pakistan Distributed Solar Project, which helps finance solar installations for various sectors. 

The World Bank also warns that the growing energy imbalance in Pakistan should serve as a cautionary tale to other emerging economies looking to employ a similar model, or who might have one thrust upon them as disenfranchised residents and businesses take matter into their own hands and onto their rooftops. 

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com 

1 in 4 people lack access to safe drinking water: UN


By AFP
August 26, 2025


Universal coverage of safely managed water services by 2030 is increasingly out of reach, the WHO and UNICEF said - Copyright AFP Hilary Wardhaugh

Robin MILLARD

More than two billion people worldwide still lack access to safely-managed drinking water, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning that progress towards universal coverage was moving nowhere near quickly enough.

The UN’s health and children’s agencies said a full one in four people globally were without access to safely-managed drinking water last year, with over 100 million people remaining reliant on drinking surface water — for example from rivers, ponds and canals.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF said lagging water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services were leaving billions at greater risk of disease.

They said in a joint study that the world remain far off track to reach a target of achieving universal coverage of such services by 2030.

Instead, that goal “is increasingly out of reach”, they warned.

“Water, sanitation and hygiene are not privileges: they are basic human rights,” said the WHO’s environment chief Ruediger Krech.

“We must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalised communities.”

The report looked at five levels of drinking water services.

Safely managed, the highest, is defined as drinking water accessible on the premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination.

The four levels below are basic (improved water taking less than 30 minutes to access), limited (improved, but taking longer), unimproved (for example, from an unprotected well or spring), and surface water.

– Drinking of surface water declines –

Since 2015, 961 million people have gained access to safely-managed drinking water, with coverage rising from 68 percent to 74 percent, the report said.

Of the 2.1 billion people last year still lacking safely managed drinking water services, 106 million used surface water — a decrease of 61 million over the past decade.

The number of countries that have eliminated the use of surface water for drinking meanwhile increased from 142 in 2015 to 154 in 2024, the study said.

In 2024, 89 countries had universal access to at least basic drinking water, of which 31 had universal access to safely managed services.

The 28 countries where more than one in four people still lacked basic services were largely concentrated in Africa.

– Goals slipping from reach –

As for sanitation, 1.2 billion people have gained access to safely managed sanitation services since 2015, with coverage rising from 48 percent to 58 percent, the study found.

These are defined as improved facilities that are not shared with other households, and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or removed and treated off-site.

The number of people practising open defecation has decreased by 429 million to 354 million 2024, or to four percent of the global population.

Since 2015, 1.6 billion people have gained access to basic hygiene services — a hand washing facility with soap and water at home — with coverage increasing from 66 percent to 80 percent, the study found.

“When children lack access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, their health, education, and futures are put at risk,” warned Cecilia Scharp, UNICEF’s director for WASH.

“These inequalities are especially stark for girls, who often bear the burden of water collection and face additional barriers during menstruation.

“At the current pace, the promise of safe water and sanitation for every child is slipping further from reach.”

 

Aging Coal Plants Could Cost Americans Billions

By Alex Kimani - Aug 26, 2025

• U.S. President Trump is propping up aging fossil plants.
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• According to Grid Strategies, American ratepayers will pay more than $3.1 billion in extra power bills every year if Trump mandates that fossil fuel plants slated for retirement continue operating through 2028.
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• 99% of U.S. coal plants cost more to run than building new wind/solar + enegy storage.

Back in April, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that, among other things, recognized coal as a critical mineral and opened federal lands to coal mining. Trump ordered the Secretary of Energy to examine the potential for expanding coal-based infrastructure to meet the electricity needs of AI data centers and other high-performance computing operations. Then in May, Trump ordered the massive  JH Campbell coal-fired power plant at the edge of Lake Michigan to be kept open for three months, before extending the deadline until November, days before the plant was due for closure after beginning operations in 1962.

 In June, the Department of Energy ordered the Eddystone Generating Station near Philadelphia to continue operations, citing an energy emergency declared by Trump. The 50-year old oil and gas power plant was due for closure due to economic reasons. So far, the Trump administration has granted “pollution passes” to 71 high-pollution plants, including coal plants and dozens of copper smelting facilities. Coal is, by far, the dirtiest fossil fuel, with natural gas plants producing 50-60% less emissions than coal plants for a similar amount of power generated. The experts have labeled this as “ Trump’s political takeover of the electricity grid” and warned it will result in higher electricity bills, more pollution and a worsening climate crisis.

Trump’s orders for old fossil fuel power plants to remain open do appear more political than strategic, with Michigan’s grid operator MISO stressing it had “adequate resources to meet peak demand this summer” without the contribution of JH Campbell. And now the experts are warning that it’s American taxpayers who will pay the cost if Trump continues supporting old fossil fuel plants. Consumers Energy initially estimated that the closure of JH Campbell alone would save $600 million by 2040 as the company shifts to cheaper, cleaner energy sources.

According to Grid Strategies, American ratepayers will pay more than $3.1 billion in extra power bills every year if Trump mandates that fossil fuel plants slated for retirement continue operating through 2028. Even more alarming, the power sector consulting firm has predicted that Trump’s actions are likely to create a “perverse incentive” whereby plant owners will claim they plan to shut down thus inducing the Federal government to step in to keep their plants alive. Grid Strategies estimates that power bills could increase by as much as $6 billion if the country’s entire fleet of aging fossil fuel plants is kept open during Trump’s entire term, with California, Texas and Colorado likely to see the highest increases.

But Grid Strategies’ is not the only damning report for fossil fuel-powered plants. A 2023 report by nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation found that fully 99% of existing U.S. coal plants are more expensive to run than new, locally-sourced wind, solar, and energy storage resources. This cost comparison includes not only generation costs but also the "all-in" cost of building and operating new renewable energy and battery systems compared to continuing to run older, less efficient coal plants.

Falling costs is a big reason why renewable generation is now competitive with fossil fuels. Last month, we reported that U.S. utility-scale battery storage has surged more than 15-fold since 2020 thanks in large part to a large decline in battery prices. Lithium-ion battery prices now range from $85-$100 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), down from more than $1,000 per kWh 15 years ago.

According to financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard, the levelized cost of electricity  (LCOE) for utility-scale solar farms paired with batteries now ranges from $50-$131 per megawatt hour (MWh), making the pair competitive with new natural gas peaking plants (LCOE of $47 to $170 per MWh) and even new coal-fired plants with LCOE of $114 per MWh. According to Lazard's 2025 LCOE+ report, new-build renewable energy power plants are the most competitive form of power generation on an unsubsidized basis (i.e., without tax subsidies). This is highly significant in the current era of unprecedented power demand growth in large part due to the AI boom and clean energy manufacturing. Renewables also stand out as the quickest-to-deploy generation resource, with the solar plus battery combination often boasting far shorter deployment times compared to constructing new natural gas power plants.

Source: Lazard

That said, the experts have predicted that Trump’s actions will likely forestall the ongoing decline by the coal sector, but fail to stop it, “The administration may slow the retirement trend although they are unlikely to stop it,” Timothy Fox, an energy analyst at ClearView, told the Guardian. The coal industry is generally considered to be in a long-term, if slow-burn, decline globally, driven by factors like the falling cost of renewable energy, climate change regulations, and declining investor confidence.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

 

Alberta Looks to Japan to Cut Reliance on U.S. Buyers

By Irina Slav - Aug 26, 2025

• Alberta is in talks to invest in Japanese refining to secure a steady overseas market for its heavy crude.
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• Japan, highly import-dependent and geared to lighter Middle East crudes, would gain capacity to run Alberta barrels and diversify supply routes beyond the South China Sea.
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• A deal would structurally lift Alberta’s seaborne exports.
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The government of Canada’s biggest oil-producing province is in talks with Japanese parties with a view to investing in the latter’s refining industry. The move, according to unnamed sources who spoke to Reuters, should secure a table overseas market for Alberta’s crude.

Per the report, this would be the first Alberta government investment in foreign energy infrastructure, potentially marking a new stage in the province’s energy policies and a departure from the historical almost complete reliance on the United States as an export market.

Investment in foreign refineries to secure a market for crude oil is, on the other hand, familiar to some national oil companies, such as Russia’s Rosneft and Saudi Aramco. The former is the co-owner of India’s Nayara Energy, which recently suffered a blow after the European Union tightened sanctions against Russia’s energy industry. The latter has been discussing oil supply to new refineries, yet to be built in India, to capture a bigger market share in the country with the fastest-growing oil demand.

Aramco already has several deals with Chinese refiners and petrochemical producers as the Saudi oil giant has been pursuing deals in recent years to expand its international downstream presence, especially in demand centers such as Asia. With this strategy it makes for a good example to follow for Alberta, which is only now opening to new markets overseas, after the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

With China and India pretty much covered by OPEC+ and fans of a bargain when it comes to oil, Japan seems like a more logical fit for Alberta’s oil producers. Despite its persistent economic growth problems, Japan has recently staged a recovery, and demand for energy will grow. Due to its scarcity of local energy resources, Japan is highly dependent on imports and diversification would be a good idea.

There is, however, a problem. Most of Japan’s refineries are not equipped to process heavy Albertan crude, with most of the country’s imports currently coming from the Middle East, Reuters notes in its report. That’s why the investment talks focus on the construction of a coker unit – refinery equipment that can process heavier oil fractions into lighter products.

If a deal is agreed, this would boost Alberta’s seaborne exports, providing an additional revenue stream for the oil province and, per Reuters, it would also strengthen its case for the construction of another oil pipeline, which the provincial government has been pushing for, in addition to Trans Mountain. Seaborne oil exports are already surging thanks to the TMX expansion, with volumes going to the United States dipping by about 1 million bpd earlier this year. China has emerged as the largest buyer of Albertan crude, followed by the U.S., and South Korea.

Amid soured relations with its top trading partner under U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian policymakers on both the federal and provincial levels have started to realize they may have been too hasty in scrapping Alberta-to-coast pipeline projects over the past decade. These could have diversified Canada’s oil and gas exports earlier. Alberta has been a vocal supporter of increased pipeline takeaway capacity and now appears to have started to actively look for those diversification opportunities with non-U.S. customers.

For Japan, a deal would also be an opportunity to build an alternative supply route for oil besides the South China Sea, which Reuters notes is a regional hotspot, with China in territorial disputes with most of its neighbors in the area. In short, a deal would be a win-win, as long as one is agreed, and as long as the Canadian federal government relaxes its regulatory grip on Alberta’s oil industry.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

 

China’s rare earth companies rally after Beijing tightens grip

Bloomberg News | August 25, 2025 | 

Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Stock image.

China’s rare earths producers surged on Monday, after the government fleshed out plans for stricter controls on an industry that has played a crucial role in the country’s trade war with the US.

Authorities are pushing for a system to better track all domestic supply, including a requirement to send regular output data to the government, according to a statement Friday on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Tighter regulations on rare earths output have tended to benefit bigger, established players.

Among the top movers was magnet supplier JL-Mag Rare-Earth Co., which climbed as much as 18% in Hong Kong. On the mainland, China Northern Rare Earth Group High-Tech Co. added as much as 10%, while China Rare Earth Resources and Technology Co. gained 8.5% and Zhejiang Zhongke Magnetic Industry Co. rose 12%

The push for even more official scrutiny on rare earths comes after China placed most exports of the critical materials under heavier supervision as part of its tough stance against President Donald Trump’s trade offensive. The rare earths industry is already highly regulated and state-dominated, although Beijing has also launched a campaign against smuggling in an attempt to control exports.

The plan announced on Friday was based on proposals first released in June 2024. It clarifies responsibilities of different bodies — companies, local governments, ministries — in managing output and monitoring any infringements.

 

IMF sees Panama GDP up 4.5% this year in rebound from copper mine closure

Reuters | August 25, 2025 | 

Cobre Panamá worker. (Image courtesy of Cobre Panama.)

Panama’s economy is expected to grow this year as the impact from the closure in late 2023 of First Quantum Minerals’ Cobre Panama copper mine fades, and non-mining sectors continue to grow, the International Monetary Fund’s executive board said on Monday.

Panama’s economy is recovering after the Cobre Panama mine, one of the world’s largest open-pit copper deposits, was shut in 2023 following protests from local residents over tax contributions and its environmental impact.

The IMF expects Panama’s economy to grow 4.5% in 2025 and to keep growing 4% yearly through 2030.

As a comparison, the Central American country’s economy grew 2.9% in 2024.

“The economy is recovering from the impact of the Cobre Panama mine closure,” the IMF said in a statement.

It added the country’s economy “is expected to continue its recovery, but the outlook is subject to significant downside risks and a high degree of uncertainty.”

The IMF also said a spending reduction plan approved by the cabinet, if fully implemented, could bring the government’s 2025 fiscal target within reach.

The closure of Cobre Panama, which had contributed 1% to global copper production, impacted both Panama’s and First Quantum’s financial prospects.

First Quantum estimates $1.7B in forgone economic contributions to Panama

Panama, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in the last decade, recorded a significant slowdown in gross domestic product growth in 2024 from the previous year’s 7.4% expansion, as the copper mine closed and air transport declined.

(By Diego Ore, Natalia Siniawski and Paolo Laudani; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Chris Reese)

 

Indonesia sets up new mineral industry agency to oversee rare earths development

Reuters | August 25, 2025 | 

Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto. Credit: Prabowo Subianto via X

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has set up a new mineral industry agency that will oversee the development of rare earths and radioactive materials, the agency’s new chief told reporters on Monday.

“This agency will manage the strategic materials industry that relates to the defence industry, because strategic materials are quite important for the sovereignty of the nation, as well as important for the improvement of our economy,” said agency chief Brian Yuliarto, who is also the higher education minister.

He has previously said rare earth metals were often found in mineral processing by-products from nickel and tin. Indonesia has been seeking to process rare earths found in tin ore such as monazite.

Indonesia has large reserves of a number of critical minerals as well as deposits of rare earth elements, and it is a major producer of tin and nickel.

 

Iron ore prices hit one-week high after fatal incident halts Rio Tinto’s Simandou project

Staff Writer | August 25, 2025 | 

Simandou deposit, Guinea. (Image courtesy of Rio Tinto.)

Iron ore prices climbed to a one-week high on Monday after Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) suspended operations at its Simandou project in Guinea following an incident that killed a contract worker at the mine site.

The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed daytime trading 2.27% higher at 787 yuan ($110.06) per tonne, its highest level since August 14.

On the Singapore Exchange, benchmark September iron ore rose 2.69% to $103.3 per tonne as of 0810 GMT, also the highest since August 14.

Rio Tinto, the world’s largest iron ore producer, holds two of the four Simandou mining blocks through its SimFer joint venture with China’s Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH) and the Guinean government. The company had previously expected its first iron ore shipment from the project in November.

“All activity at the SimFer mine site is currently suspended, and support is in place for colleagues affected by this event,” the company said in a statement.

Simon Trott, who assumed the role of Rio Tinto’s chief executive officer on Monday, is expected to visit the site. He confirmed the company will launch an investigation.

Rio is also working with the Guinean government and Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), developers of the other two blocks, to build the infrastructure needed to export mined material from the far southeast of the country to its maritime borders and beyond.

Initial shipments will be modest as production ramps up, but at full capacity the mine is expected to deliver nearly 120 million tonnes of high-quality iron ore annually, making it one of the largest new sources of supply globally.

The fatality highlights ongoing safety challenges for Rio. It marks the seventh death across the miner’s global operations over the past two years.

Last October, a contractor was killed at the SimFer port site, and in January of the same year, four employees died in a charter flight crash en route to the Diavik diamond mine in northern Canada. Before these incidents, the Australian miner had recorded five consecutive years without fatalities at its managed operations.

Meanwhile, near-term demand for iron ore remained firm despite production restrictions in China’s top steelmaking hub, Tangshan, imposed to ensure cleaner air in Beijing ahead of a military parade marking the end of World War II.

Average daily hot metal output — a key gauge of iron ore demand — held steady at 2.41 million tonnes in the week ending August 21, according to consultancy Mysteel.

Market sentiment was further supported after Shanghai announced it would ease home-buying restrictions for eligible families.

Shares of Rio Tinto rose 2.4% on Monday in Australia, giving the company a market capitalization of A$164 billion ($106 billion).

(With files from Reuters)

 

Merz and Carney vow deeper cooperation on critical minerals

Bloomberg News | August 26, 2025 | 

Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Prime Minister Mark Carney. (Image: Mark Carney X account)

Germany and Canada pledged to expand cooperation on securing supply chains for the critical minerals that are key to energy and defense technologies.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Prime Minister Mark Carney discussed the initiative, which includes co-funding of new projects and builds on earlier commitments between the two allies, in talks Tuesday in Berlin.

“For too long, Canada’s vast reserves of nickel, cobalt, and other critical minerals have been underdeveloped, allowing Russia and China to dominate the global market,” Carney said in prepared remarks distributed by his office.

“Canada is ready to be a reliable supplier for our allies — particularly Germany as Europe’s largest economy and Canada’s largest trading partner in the European Union,” he added.

A Joint declaration of intent sets out a “mutual intent to innovate, invest, and collaborate through rules-based trade” and Germany and Canada will “help catalyse private capital to fund new projects and build resilient supply chains.”

Demand for critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earths — vital for energy technologies including EVs, battery storage, renewables and grid networks as well as military equipment — has been growing strongly in recent years and securing supply has become a top priority for governments.

Their task has been made harder by an increasing concentration of production in a handful of countries and the spread of export restrictions, according to a May report from the International Energy Agency.

US President Donald Trump’s push to overhaul global trade as part of his America First agenda has also complicated efforts to ensure adequate supplies.

At a joint news conference with Merz, Carney told reporters that there are a “huge range of immediate opportunities” around critical metals and minerals as well as “medium-term opportunities” with regard to energy, including liquefied natural gas and hydrogen.

He also highlighted major investments expected in port infrastructure such as at Montreal and at Churchill, Manitoba, to help expand metals and minerals exports.

“There is a lot happening, it’s the number one focus of this government to build that infrastructure and particularly infrastructure that helps us deepen our partnership with our European partners,” he added.

A document distributed by his office cited three agreements between Canadian and German companies:

• Troilus Gold Corp., a Canadian development-stage mining company, sealed a supply agreement with Aurubis AG under which the Hamburg-based company is expected to purchase a significant portion of Troilus’ future copper concentrate production;
• Torngat Metals Ltd., a Québec-based rare earths development company, and Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co. KG, a producer of rare earth permanent magnets, signed a memorandum of understanding on the long-term supply of separated rare earth oxides;
• Rock Tech Lithium Inc., a Canadian-German cleantech company, signed a MOU with Enertrag SE to connect their lithium conversion plant in Guben, Germany, to Enertrag’s solar and offshore wind farms.

After his talks with Merz Tuesday, Carney was meeting with top German executives to discuss investment opportunities and how to secure supply chains for energy and natural resources — particularly the critical minerals needed for EV batteries.

Markus Schaefer, chief technology officer and head of purchasing at Mercedes-Benz Group AG, was among those present, according to the Stuttgart-based carmaker.

(By Laura Dhillon Kane and Kamil Kowalcze)