Islamabad (Pakistan News Online) The Power Division has begun amending net metering regulations in Pakistan. Faced with expensive electricity, consumers have increasingly turned to solar panels for affordable energy, leading to significant investments in home installations.
The government now aims to regulate this sector to prevent additional burdens on WAPDA system users from net metering.
In light of these developments, the Power Division is working on amendments to net metering regulations. Electricity generated from net metering will be fed into the national grid and subjected to capacity charges.
The government is also considering a 50% reduction in the purchase rates for electricity obtained through net metering, as large consumers opting for net metering impose an extra cost of 2 PKR per unit on other users.
Sources indicate that under the current rate, this cost could exceed 350 billion PKR next year. The Power Division plans to submit a request to NEPRA in July to review net metering rates.
Lowering the buyback rate would extend the return on investment for solar panel investors from 3 to 7 years. Currently, net metering contributes 2000 megawatts to the national grid. Over the past year, the number of solar consumers has increased by more than 60%, rising from 55,000 to 120,000.