The decision by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to cut down the income from solar power is alarming. Instead of paying Rs19 per unit, the small roof-top solar power producers (RSPPs) are now being paid Rs9 per unit. The irony is that the power company would be buying the same electricity unit from independent power producers (IPPs) at Rs19 and from the RSPPs at Rs9. May we ask, why?
Most of these IPPs have secured massive loans on facilitated terms to install machines that produce electricity from imported fossil fuels, and then sell their produce to the government on heavy and secured-for-years rates. From their establishment to the production and sale of energy, they depend on the government, yet they are called IPPs.
On the other hand, when small investors install solar panels from their own pockets on their rooftops, produce electricity from the free sunshine, and sell it to Nepra, it pays them less than what it pays to the IPPs. May we ask, why?
Currently, Pakistan produces less than two per cent of its total electricity through solar energy. To encourage the production of solar and wind energy and to bring it to at least 30pc of the total consumption by 2030, the RSPPs should be offered a double unit rate, at least, till 2030, in addition to subsidies on the import of solar panels, their related technology, and loans for domestic production of solar and wind power.
DR IRFAN AZIZ
KARACHI
