Solar solace: G-B communities find light in darkness

For Shamim Ara, a resident of Aliabad, the onset of winter in Gilgit-Baltistan has long been synonymous with paralysis. As the mercury plunges below freezing between November and May, the region’s power grid effectively collapses, leaving households to grapple with outages that can last up to 20 hours a day. It was this vacuum in service delivery that prompted the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), in partnership with HBL Microfinance Bank, to launch the Accelerate Clean Energy (ACE) Pilot Project. The initiative was designed to offer affordable financing for rooftop solar systems, providing a sustainable alternative to the failing grid. The effort to achieve energy security is also moving at a structural level. The Government of Gilgit-Baltistan recently signed a historic set of agreements with NPAK Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Industrial Promotion Services (IPS)—the industrial and infrastructure development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, marking the region’s first major public–private partnership in the energy sector.