Pakistan’s Financial Coordination Committee (ECC) has authorised a brand new coverage for electrical energy purchases from web metering customers, reducing the speed from Rs27 per unit to simply Rs10 per unit.
This resolution comes after a major enhance within the variety of properties and workplaces in Pakistan putting in photo voltaic panels to generate their very own electrical energy, a development pushed by escalating energy outages and rising electrical energy prices lately.
The federal government’s new coverage goals to handle the financial burden positioned on common customers because of the rising variety of web metering customers. “The assault on common customers attributable to web metering has created an extra financial burden, and this coverage was authorised to alleviate it,” stated a authorities spokesperson.
Based on official information, the variety of web metering customers within the nation is anticipated to achieve 283,000 by the tip of 2024, up from 226,440 in October 2024. The federal government has calculated that, by December 2024, web metering customers could have shifted an extra burden of Rs159 billion onto different electrical energy customers. If the coverage weren’t revised, this monetary burden might rise to Rs4.24 trillion by 2034.
The variety of megawatts produced by photo voltaic web metering has additionally seen vital development. From simply 321 MW in 2021, the variety of megawatts from photo voltaic web metering customers reached 3,299 MW in October 2024 and is anticipated to rise to 4,124 MW by December 2024.
Below the brand new coverage, the federal government will now buy electrical energy from web metering customers at a fee of Rs10 per unit, considerably decrease than the earlier fee of Rs27. Nevertheless, the brand new coverage additionally permits for the import of electrical energy throughout peak hours at a fee of Rs60 per unit, inclusive of taxes, from web metering customers.
Given all these circumstances, the query is how lengthy will it take to get better the price of the photo voltaic system underneath the brand new web metering coverage?
Vitality knowledgeable Rao Amir Ali, from Arif Habib Restricted, expressed issues concerning the new coverage, stating that it discourages individuals from adopting web metering.
“The brand new coverage will delay the time it takes to get better the price of a photo voltaic system. Below the earlier fee, photo voltaic prices have been recovered inside three to 4 years, however with the brand new coverage, it’s going to take 10 to 12 years,” he stated, including that the federal government’s goal seemed to be to discourage customers from choosing web metering methods.
The federal government defined that web metering customers don’t pay capability funds and are exempt from paying the fastened fees to electrical energy distribution firms, placing additional monetary pressure on the federal government. The revised coverage is aimed toward restoring stability to the ability distribution system.
Moreover, the federal government identified that round 80% of web metering customers are situated within the nation’s high 9 cities, primarily in prosperous areas. This shift in coverage goals to make sure a good stability within the electrical energy distribution community and tackle the rising disparity between web metering customers and common customers.
Because the nation faces rising power challenges, the shift in coverage is anticipated to have vital ramifications on the photo voltaic power market and the broader electrical energy panorama in Pakistan.