Net metering application process digitalised

KARACHI: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has recently approved the online net metering processing portal, which will allow processing all net metering application by the consumers online, making the systems more efficient and transparent, an official said.

The authority has issued over 1,000 net metering licenses and the total capacity of net metering has crossed 25MW.

According to a report, since the government notified net metering rules last year, domestic and captive installations of renewable energy particularly solar has been on the rise.

By installation of the net metering system, approximately 2,000MW of clean solar energy could be

added in the system without any investment by the government.

With the passage of time and confidence of the people, solar energy through net metering could be increased to 10,000MW.

An industry expert said Pakistan was gifted with high solar irradiation and now there was a clear incentive for consumers and businesses in the form of cheap financing from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and a net-metering policy that allowed export of excess electricity back to the grid to earn credits.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in a recent report noted that Pakistan could increase its energy security, improve energy access, and spur social and economic development with renewable energy.

IRENA also recommended devising a comprehensive distributed power generation plan.

The global distributed generation market is projected to reach $103.38 billion by 2022 from $60.04 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 11.48 percent from 2017 to 2022.

The increasing demand for electricity worldwide, and decreasing cost of solar technology was driving the market for distributed generation across the world.

Moreover, the commercial segment was expected to hold the largest share of the distributed generation market, by end-user, during the forecast period.