KP Government Opposes Planned Solar Project In Muzaffargarh

Tariffs were approved by NEPRA in 2017–18, but they haven’t been able to launch because of shifting governmental priorities.

KP Government Opposes Planned Solar Project In Muzaffargarh

The implementation of 13 category III solar and wind power projects totaling 680 MW is being pushed by a parliamentary panel and federal ministers in Pakistan. Tariffs were approved by NEPRA in 2017–18, but they haven’t been able to launch because of shifting governmental priorities.

Minister for Human Rights, Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom and others said in three separate presentations to the prime minister that these projects had received all necessary approvals, including tariffs in the range of 3.2 to 3.7 cents per kWh in 2020, but were unable to move forward due to shifting government policies.

In order to ensure more affordable and clean energy, the private sector sponsors of 13 outdated projects in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan have argued that they should be allowed to set up their plants.

They have expressed dissatisfaction over the bureaucratic obstacles facing investments worth more than $600 million. In a letter to the prime minister, Energy minister stated that the swift transition to renewable energy would result from the approval of category-III projects.

The Speaker said that a plan to “enable genuinely qualified and capable projects to proceed apace, which will make it feasible for the Prime Minister to start laying their foundation stones before the end of the current fiscal year” should be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE).

The Prime Minister’s Office received a draft summary of the proposed plan in October of last year. The minister complained that there hadn’t been any “comments and feed.”

A committee of ministers on category III stalled projects met just three times in more than three months, according to the Minister for Human Rights, who complained that the PPIB CEO was unable to offer any workable solutions.

The 680 MW of 13 advanced-stage wind and solar projects that made up the cat-III projects had reached all necessary milestones and received NEPRA tariffs that were the lowest in Pakistani history, ranging from 3.2 to 3.85 cents per unit.

The Minister for Human Rights pleaded with the prime minister to prevent the bureaucracy from being “irresolute, myopic, and indolent,” which could jeopardise Pakistan’s energy security.

By 2030, China and India will have added 500,000 MW of renewable energy, but Pakistan will only have 1,800 MW of wind power and 500 MW of solar grid power operating. It appears it will take months before the request for proposals for bidding can be advertised.

The Minister for Human Rights asserted that the Commerce Minister had also voiced his displeasure with the AEDB chief’s irresponsible behaviour for providing false information about 13 advanced stage projects in a letter to the prime minister.

The minister asserted that no bids had been organised for affordable wind and solar projects despite significant public pressure on the government over the previous five years. He quoted the chairman of NEPRA as telling the committee that the lowest tariffs ever approved in Pakistan were between 3.2 and 3.7 cents per unit for all 13 wind and solar projects.