Solar energy users to be credited for adding electricity to grid

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday accorded approval to certification regulation for solar-powered net metering which is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid.
Besides earning money, consumers would also add to efforts for preserving the environment and leave a cleaner world for the coming generations. On a sunny day, the sun supplies around 1,000 watts energy on every square meter of the earth’s surface. The most appropriate method to conserve fuel sources and yet produce sufficient energy for our homes and factories is to collect this solar energy. Solar panels collect sunrays and convert it into electricity or heat.
The board of directors (BoD) of the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) that met here with Minister for Power Division Awais Ahmed Laghari in the chair accorded approval to certification regulations for solar-powered net metering in the country to facilitate consumers to install solar-powered electricity generation and sell the same to the national grid. He said the move is bound to bring green energy and biggest renewable electricity source of around 5,000 to 7,000MW can be exploited. The minister said that consumers having desire to install solar system associated with net meters up to 25KV shall be facilitated to install their system within days as compared to present cumbersome licensing process spanning over months. “We are actually bringing at the doorstep the profitable business of electricity generation for everyone” he asserted.
The Board approved AEDB (Certification) Regulations, 2017 prepared by the AEDB for certification of installers/vendors for net-metering based installations and other off-gird RE installations. The Board also approved initiation of scheme for conversion of all electricity-operated tube wells in Balochistan to solar power. Currently, more than 30,000 electricity-operated tube wells with a sanctioned load of more than 480MW are running in Balochistan on which the government is providing subsidy of more than Rs21 billion annually.
The BoD constituted a two members committee to finalise the PC-I already prepared by the AEDB for conversion of the solar tube wells in Balochistan. The committee is tasked to present its final report in the next BoD meeting.
This subsidy constitutes a major portion of the circular debt. By converting electricity-operated tube wells to solar power, the load on national grid will be relieved and the subsidy given on these electricity-operated tube wells will be phased out, thus significantly reducing circular debt. In the first phase of the project, 10,000 solar water pumps will be installed to replace the existing electricity-operated tube wells.
The minister appreciated Amjad Ali Awan, CEO AEDB, and the team associated with solar power for their hard work to complete all the requirements for facilitation of solar power based net-metering and its seamless inclusion in the national grid. The Board discussed matters relating to renewable energy projects and initiatives of the government and AEDB for promotion of renewable energy technologies in the country with special emphasis on promoting renewable energy based net-metering.
It was noted by the BoD that net metering-based applications not only lessen the burden over the national grid, but also support increasing overall generation capacity, reducing fuel import bill, decreasing emissions of greenhouse gases and strengthening the national grid by minimising line losses as well as increasing major deployment of solar applications.
The BoD directed to initiate a well-planned public awareness campaign so that maximum number of people many take benefit from the scheme.