PAKISTAN continues its mindless pursuit of coal and other fossil fuels, while common sense and environmental concerns dictats that we should promote clean and renewable sources of energy. Sadly, this does not seem to appear high on our policy makers’ agenda. All over the world buildings and installations generating solar or wind energy are allowed to sell the surplus to the national grid through the net metering system.

In Pakistan, some buildings in Islamabad and Lahore utilise this facility, courtesy IESCO and LESCO. The rest of the country cannot do so since no system exists to facilitate the exchange.

Net metering enables those who generate solar power to transfer the excess unused power to the grid and be compensated. This means that the electrical meter measures what is received as well as what is returned to the grid. The customer is billed for the net difference between the two. Both the solar power generator and the distribution company benefit.

The NEPRA notification SRO 892 (1) 2015 stipulates the procedure for power supply companies to provide the net metering facility to those who install their own solar systems.

The K-Electric management should have promoted this scheme considering the acute shortage of electricity in Karachi.

Naeem Sadiq
Karachi

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2017