‘Over 1,000 MW solar energy to be added in system shortly’

ISLAMABAD (APP) - The government has planned to generate over 1,000 MW electricity from solar in near future adding that 100 MW will be generated from Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park (Phase-I).

Official sources told APP here that 300 MW and 600 MW would be generated from Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park (Phase-II) project and Phase-III respectively.

In a landmark decision the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has also approved the upfront tariff and adjustments/indexations for solar power generation for delivery of electricity to the power purchaser based on solar PV power plants.

The Solar energy is clean, environment friendly and renewable and also provides benefit of carbon credits. The overall cost of project and generation cost is very much competitive.

The sources said the per MW cost of solar power although higher in the beginning but subsequent decline in cost made it financially viable solution in the medium term.

Its installation was also easy and could play an important role for overcoming energy crisis, they said.

The sources said in Pakistan connecting far off villages to the national grid would be very costly, thus giving each house a solar panel would be cost efficient and would save investment in transmission lines and transmission losses.

The Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) had also initiated Solar Village Electrification Programme under Prime Minister's directive and 3,000 Solar Home Systems had been installed in 49 villages of district Tharparkar, Sindh.

Another 51 villages in Sindh and 300 villages in Balochistan had been approved for electrification using solar energy and would be implemented shortly.

The sources said that the AEDB in light of SRO 575(1)12006 had also issued duty exemption certificates for a large number of solar panels/solar modules to private sector companies for installation/generation of almost 64.57MW of energy in the country.

The AEDB had also issued tax exemption certificate for import of almost 16,715 units of Solar Water Heaters in the country. These heaters are deployed all over the country especially in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Punjab.

Meanwhile, 24 Letter of Intents (LOIs) in solar energy had been issued for cumulative capacity of approximately 792.99 MW On-Grid Solar PV power plants.

Solar irradiation in Pakistan and India stand at 1,900 (kWh/m2), against China's 1,500 and Germany's 1,200.