ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) generated around 2.3 million units of power through net metering connections in recent months.
According to the information available with INP-WealthPK, power generation increased 63 percent during January-August 2021 compared to the year 2020. The company generated a total of 34.65 million units till August 2021, which was equal to the energy of Rs346.55 million, reports WealthPK.
Moreover, the above chart shows that from the year 2016, there was a rise of about 98 percent in energy production till August 2021.
According to the Global Market Outlook for Solar 2021-2025, “In the coming years, it is expected to be very strong for solar power around the globe. For each year up to 2025, we have considerably increased our forecasts, but 2022 will stand out.
In our Medium Scenario, we see the global solar market increase by 25% to 203GW in 2022, the first time that annual photovoltaic installations will cross the 200GW level, which we had previously expected to be accomplished only in 2024”.
Furthermore, net metering works with the solar energy. The photovoltaic cells absorb energy from the sun and pass it on to the inverter which converts energy from direct current to alternating current without affecting the climate. The solar energy is then passed on to the national grid through net metering, according to Engr. Faisal who works at Sky Electric – a local solar energy company.
In addition, Faisal said, “The company has installed more than 4,000 residential and commercial systems which have produced 5.32GWH electricity through net metering till now. This has also reduced carbon dioxide emissions substantially to 13k tonnes.
According to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, (NEPRA), the government encourages and enables utilization of renewable energy sources in Pakistan through the Alternative Energy Development Board. Distributed generation and net metering are a part of the overall green energy policy.
Besides, the NEPRA announced official Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations on September 1, 2015. As per these regulations, any customer of the electric grid (three-phase connections) can avail himself/herself of a grid connection and enter into a net metering agreement for on-site small-scale renewable energy installations.
Consequently, this milestone in energy market legislation allows all electricity customers to avail themselves of net metering for their own photovoltaic and wind power plants from 1kW up to 1MW capacity.
According to the USAID, distributed generation (also called on-site generation, dispersed generation, embedded generation, decentralized generation, and distributed energy) generates electricity from small energy systems, at or near the point of consumption.
Solar panels – installed on rooftops or on the ground – provide electric power during peak shaving, load shifting, and ancillary services. Distributed generation, along with digitalization and decarbonization, make up key components of the global energy shift.
INP
