Sale of solar panels increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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Sale of solar panels increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Currently the country is under the turmoil of loadshedding and energy crisis despite a massive hydro-power potential of Pakistan still remains unutilised. To avoid any disturbance caused by the electricity loss, people hit by loadshedding and power tariff in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are turning towards solar energy and the rate of solar panel sale has been increased in the province.
The solar panels are an ideal source of energy for the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as they are facilitated by high intensity sun-rays in the tribal belt which has made the sales of solar panels going up.
Wakeel Ahmad is a Peshawar-based dealer of solar panels and explained the reason of growing demand of solar panels saying that the people are compelled to turn to solar energy as the source of power, as load-shedding and the cost of power along with the rising expenses on fuel generators have left them with no choice but to adopt solar technology.
Sawabi’s dealer of solar energy equipment, Nazir Ahmad told the media, “Solar lamps have been installed near Peshawar bus stand with plans to install them on roads and streets in the city soon. Individuals are also coming up in great numbers to buy these panels.”
He added, “Solar panel is sold at Rs250 per watt with 20 years warranty. A normal household with daily consumption of 1000 watt would thus have to spend Rs250,000. The family could also buy a solar panel for Rs40,000 to charge the electricity-based uninterrupted power supply systems to use the power later in their homes.”
According to a WAPDA official in Dir, many people have got imported solar panels installed which have brought a revolutionary change in their lives as well as agriculture. Currently, over a million tube-wells in the country are using 1000-1500MW of power and they are consuming over billions of rupees in power subsidy.
Being situated in the warmest side of the globe, Pakistan receives high level of solar radiation throughout the year which is around 1000 watts per square meter. As the chief executive officer of AEDB, Mr Arif Allauddin, recently stated that tapping solar energy in the country, Pakistan can produce 2.9mn MW of energy.
Unfortunately Pakistan has not been succeeded to utilise solar power though it has opted to invest heavily in the oil-run power plants. But now the AEDB has signed several MoUs on solar energy panels installation with different agencies to cover the loss of energy.

Sale of solar panels increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | NewsPakistan.PK

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Solar power is now cheaper than diesel generators

It was once thought to be one of the most expensive forms of electricity, but prices of photovoltaic cells have dropped so dramatically over the past two years that solar electricity is now cheaper than diesel-fired generator electricity and may soon compete even with the heavily subsidised cost of grid electricity in Pakistan.

In many parts of Pakistan, even off-grid solar power systems can produce electricity at approximately Rs14.40 per kilowatt-hour, or about $0.15 per kWh, according to Shaaf Mehboob, vice president of the Renewable and Alternative Energy Association of Pakistan (REAP), an industry group.

By contrast, grid electricity for most upper-middle class consumers in Pakistan currently costs in the range of Rs11 to Rs13 per kWh and diesel-fired generators can cost as much as Rs32 per kWh. While gas-fired generators can still produce cheaper electricity – owing to the highly subsidised domestic consumer gas prices in Pakistan – the natural gas shortage in the country has made the solution unviable.

That dramatic fall in the price of a unit of electricity is largely due to the sharp decline in the prices of photovoltaic cells, or solar panels. “The cost of importing one watt [of photovoltaic power generation capacity] is now just $1, compared to $2 just over a year ago, and down from $4 in 2008. That decline is quite noteworthy,” said Mehboob.

He said this on the sidelines of the inaugural session of a five-day training programme on photovoltaic systems organised with the help of Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) and a German technical training firm, GIZ.

“The results of this reducing cost is now being seen in the market as more and more people are opting for solar panels especially in big cities of Pakistan,” said Mehboob. “It is all about economic viability. Today, solar energy is much cheaper than it was ever before hence people are opting for it.”

Solar panels are now increasingly being recognised by many individual and even some industrial users in Pakistan as a cost-effective alternative to diesel generators and more reliable than gas-fired generators. Yet despite the economic logic, the rate of uptake appears to be low. REAP officials say that Pakistan imported just 15 megawatts of solar power production capacity in the first ten months of 2012.

The solar-power industry in Pakistan, however, is excited about its growth prospects. REAP started in 2010 and has already grown to over 270 member companies nationwide. Many importers have found particularly strong demand in parts of the country with unreliable grid electricity, such as the northern parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Some companies, even large ones like Yunus Textile Mills, are considering installing solar panels as an alternative source of electricity to their back-up generators.

The sharp decline in photovoltaic cell prices is due to the dual effect of rising production in China and slowing demand in Europe, the main market for solar energy.

The irony of sun-starved Europe beating sunshine abundant Pakistan in solar energy adoption was emphasised by the German engineers who were present at the workshop. “The average solar radiation in Pakistan is significantly higher than Germany where solar panels do not produce energy in months like December and January when sunlight is usually low,” Raphael Lechner, one of the German trainers, told Daily The Pak Banker. “Pakistan has a long way to go in the alternative energy sector, even when compared to its regional peers.”

Part of the reason for the lower uptake is the extraordinarily high subsidies on electricity given by the government to all consumers, regardless of ability to pay. In fiscal 2012, the government spent Rs500 billion subsidising electricity, more than half of the total budget deficit for the year. That subsidy artificially lowers the price of grid electricity in Pakistan to below average production costs, which renders otherwise workable alternatives like solar energy unviable.

Yet the solar energy industry is still optimistic, given the financially unsustainable nature of the government’s subsidy policy, which causes grid electricity to be highly unreliable in many parts of the country. In most of Punjab, summer power outages can last as long as 20 hours a day, a situation that is likely to fuel the demand for more reliable, even if slightly more expensive, solar

Solar power is now cheaper than diesel generators | Green Light National

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The Pakistani government is mulling over the possibility of increasing power generation from hydroelectric sources with the implementation of four new projects with total installed capacity of 1619MW.

The four projects - 1410MW Tarbela plant, the 122MW Keyal Khwar Hydropower plant, the 83.4MW Kurram Tangi Dam and the 4.4MW Naulong Dam are expected to reduce the demand-supply gap for electricity.

Construction at the projects will get underway following the completion of the tendering process, reported the Associated Press of Pakistan.

The government is currently looking to secure the necessary funds to get the projects underway.

The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), meanwhile, has also undertaken planning for 11 additional projects expected to generate a total output of 17475.5MW.

Twelve other hydro power projects are presently under various stages of construction stages and are expected to contribute to the increasing hydroelectric portfolio in the country.

Pakistan government looks to increase hydroelectric power generation - Energy Business Review

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to harness hydel potential

The provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is planning to develop the hydroelectric power potential in the region at an estimated cost of PKR6,026.41m ($63.7m).

The government has signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the development, according to Finance Minister Mohammad Humayun Khan.

Khan said the 36MW Daral Khawar hydel power project would be completed in three years at an estimated cost of PKR6,958.42m ($73.6m).

In addition, the recently inaugurated Batkhela Express Feeder-II project would help mitigate power problems in Batkhela and adjoining areas post completion.

The action plan 2011-25 prepared by Sarhad Hydroelectric Development Organisation (Shydo) envisaged construction of eight hydel projects in the province with an installed capacity of 628MW, reported hydroworld.com.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to harness hydel potential - Energy Business Review

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Five hydropower projects for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has allocated Rs5.13 billion for five hydropower generation projects to inject around 200 megawatts electricity into the national grid.

An official of the provincial government, while referring to the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the 2012-13 fiscal programme, stated that the provincial government as part of its Action Plan worked out in 2010 had set aside Rs 5.13 billion for the five projects to boost hydropower generation in the province.

He revealed that at the moment, the Sarhad Hydel Development Organisation (SHYDO) was operating four other Hydropower Stations in the Malakand, Swabi and Chitral districts with total installed capacity of 105 MW.

The official said that the government of Pakistan had signed a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the development of Hydropower Potential in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the total revised cost of which was Rs.6026.41 million. Under the project, the SHYDO would construct two new projects with a total installed capacity of 20 MW. These projects were under various stages of implementation and would be completed during the next three years.

In addition, the Daral Khwar hydropower project, with the capacity of 36 MW, and an estimated cost of Rs. 6958.42 million would be funded through the Hydel Development Fund and the ADP (90:10 ratio), he reported and added that it had been inaugurated in April and would be completed in three years. The project would generate annual revenue of Rs. 1 billion for the province.

The official stated that as a whole, the province had the potential for over 45000 MW in 26 scattered locations in Lower Chitral, Indus Kohistan, Swat Valley, Indus Swat, Mansehra West, Kaghan Valley and Dir, Upper Chitral.

Under the ADB loan, the SHYDO had also conducted feasibility studies of the Koto, Karora New and Matiltan hydropower projects with an estimated installed capacity of 48 MW and that the construction work on these projects would start during the next financial year. It would be completed in the next five years.

The PC-1’s for these sites have been cleared by the PDWP and the consultants would soon be appointed during the current financial year.

He said that the Koto hydropower project was located in Dir Lower with a capacity of 31 MW, Karora New HPP was located in Shangla and it would generate around 10mw electricity while the Jabori HPP site was in Mansehra and after completion it would produce 7mw. Located in Swat, the Matiltan hydropower project would have the capacity of 84 MW, while the fifth hydropower project he wanted to launch during the next fiscal year was the Lawi HPP, located in Chitral, which had an installed capacity of the 69 MW.

The official said that on the request of the provincial government, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) had handed over the feasibility study of the Lawi, which has been included in the ADP 2011-12 and now in the ADP 2012-13. The PC-I for the construction of the project had been submitted to the ECNEC for approval and work on Lawi HPP would be started in July this year.

The land acquisition process for the project was in progress, he added.

The provincial government had already allocated Rs 5.13 billion in the ADP, which would be completed in the next three to five years.

The abovementioned projects, once completed, would generate around 200 MW that would help ease the power crisis to an extent, the Finance Minister Engineer Muhammad Humayun Khan told this scribe, adding that pulling the country out of the power crisis was the topmost priority of the government.

Five hydropower projects for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa « PAKISTAN RENEWABLE ENERGY SOCIETY