Pakistan: Can solar energy remedy power woes at health centers in the Thar desert? Environmentalists have said that building solar power is well within the nation's capabilities, if there is enough political will to support development. Hassan Abbas, an environmentalist, told DW that Pakistan could conceivably generate more than 2,900 gigawatts of solar power capacity. For reference, 1 gigawatt could power 110 million LED lights, according to the US Department of Energy. "There are influential bureaucrats, policymakers and hydropower lobbies that are against solar energy," said Abbas. "An outdated solar system installed in Punjab by China lent credence to the claims of skeptics who assert solar would not work in Pakistan," he added.