2024-07-20 13:26:47
(24News) Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has announced to give free electricity to 100 units of consumers and solar system to off-grid consumers.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that the off-grid consumers in Sindh will be given electricity through solar energy and the in-grid consumers who use 50 to 100 units of electricity will be given free electricity. He announced this in a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s House in which various proposals were considered. In the meeting, P&D and Energy Minister Nasir Shah, Adviser to the Chief Minister for Cooperative Societies Ahsan Mazari, Chief Secretary Asif Haider Shah, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Agha Wasif, Energy Secretary Mossadegh Khan and others attended.
Provincial Energy Minister Nasir Shah told the Chief Minister in a briefing that about 80,000 households are using 50 MW of electricity per month, including 441,483 in K Electric, 229,338 in HESCO and 125,500 in Sepco.
Similarly, the number of households consuming 100 MW electricity per month is 1.9 million, including 1,054,000 in Karachi (KE), 566,427 in Hyderabad Region (HESCO) and 356,073 in Sukkur Region (SEPCO). There are million off-grid households out of which five lakh can be provided with Solar Home System (SHS) in the first phase, a 100 watt solar home system with three LED bulbs, 35 watt DC fan and mobile charging ports. 6 hours is enough for battery backup.
The Provincial Energy Minister told the Chief Minister that the cost of a solar home system is about Rs 50,000 and the total cost of 2.6 million solar home systems is about Rs 25 billion. Yes, as a pilot project in all six divisions a cluster of 100 households can be set up, these grids can provide electricity to households consuming 100 KW.
The Energy Minister said that if the proposal is approved, its feasibility can be developed. On and off-grid households can be supplied with electricity.
Murad Ali Shah directed the Energy Minister to prepare proposals for solar parks and solar home systems so that either of the two proposals can be discussed and approved.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary to collect data of solar home system users which will help in decision making.
2024-07-20 13:26:47