ISLAMABAD: Power Division (PD) has sought World Bank (WB) support to develop strategy and design a few small-scale pilot projects on installation of solar plants on cluster basis with net-metering in Balochistan.
The sources said, Power Division has sent this request to the WB formally aimed at dealing with water tube-well issues and billions of rupees of financial loss to the national exchequer.
Recently, a discussion was held between the World Bank team along with other Government stakeholders at Ministry of Energy (Power Division) on solarization of tube-wells in Balochistan wherein the WB team proposed to finance a pilot project and grant funding for any technical work in developing strategy and designing pilot projects in the model recommended under NTDC-commissioned feasibility study for solarization of tube-wells in Balochistan.
In continuation of the efforts of the Government of Pakistan (GOP) to eliminate the circular debt by curtailing losses of energy companies and power theft along with improved bill recoveries, Power Division through NTDCL conducted a study for installation of solar power systems in Balochistan province to supply power for the tube-wells registered with QESCO in order to address the issues of gap in billing and recovery, deficient power supply and poor power quality.
For the purpose of carrying out the detailed feasibility study, NTDCL hired NESPAK, etc., and consultants were to analyze and evaluate the techno-commercial implications of different options for the solarization of 10,000 tube wells in Balochistan. Consultants have carried out a detailed feasibility study wherein they explored different options to address the issues.
The sources said that the consultants recommended the option of a combination of clustered solar power plants and High Efficiency Irrigation Systems (HEIS) considering the set of criteria including financial, water usage, economic and social criteria. The second recommended option of the study was individual solar systems with net-metering.
The recommended options require a good monitoring and control of electricity consumption to: (i) check precisely where, when and how much energy is being used against sanctioned load; and (ii) take corrective measures for stoppage of pilferages.
Considering the existing situation, objective of the project and the ever-increasing losses to the tune of Rs 4 billion per month, it was decided in February 2021 that the implementation should be speeded up based on individual solar systems for each farmer on off-grid mode with removal of existing tube-wells from grid. It was discussed and agreed at Government level that the given objective cannot be achieved through cluster based HEIS solution (recommended in the feasibility study by NESPAK, etc) since this solution does not involve removal of tube-wells from the gird.
The WB team during the meeting showed a willingness to finance an immediate pilot activity through the “Balochistan Integrated Water Resources Management & Development Project” and grant funding from Climate Investment Fund Technical Assistance Facility (CIF-TAF) for technical support/ work in developing strategy, designing of pilot projects and scaling up of successful models.
In the light of understanding during the meeting, Ministry of Energy (Power Division) requested the World Bank to: (i) help in developing strategy and designing a few small scale pilot projects on installation of solar plants on cluster basis with net-metering; (ii) installation of individual solar systems with net-metering; (iii) installation of individual solar systems on off-grid mode with removal of tube-wells from grid through grant funding available under CIF-TAF; and (iv) finance pilot projects through the already under implementation project of WB namely, Balochistan Integrated Water Resources Management & Development Project.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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