Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to stop net metering for solar power in Pakistan. He also wants to put fixed charges on people who use solar panels in their homes. High-level sources told Pakistanalerts about this.
This decision comes about two weeks after the Power Division said they weren’t going to stop net metering next year.
The government wants to have two different rates for buying and selling solar electricity. They also plan to collect fixed charges every month from people who use solar power.
Sources also mentioned that the government plans to change the rules for net metering and create a new price category. This way, they can get more money from people who use solar power to avoid expensive electricity from the main grid.
Apart from net metering, the federal government has agreed to build a 600 MW solar power plant with investors from Saudi Arabia.
Shehbaz has asked to quickly prepare a document with both these ideas. If these changes are approved, they will start in the next financial year.
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Interestingly, Energy Minister Awais Leghari said on May 20, 2024, that reports about stopping net metering were false. He said it was still important for the government. Before, there were talks about replacing net metering with gross metering.
The recent orders from the Prime Minister have confirmed what was said before. It’s worth noting that in Pakistan, there are around 113,000 people with licenses for net metering. This is less than 0.5 percent of the whole population.