12, 918 licenses granted for net metering in last three years
ISLAMABAD: As many as 12, 918 licenses have been granted for installing net metering to the consumers, out of total 16, 149 applications received during the last three years in jurisdiction of all power distributions companies including K-Electric.
Sharing details of the net metering connections, officials sources told reporter here Tuesday, that some 1167 net metering connections had been installed in year 2018-19, 3334 in 2019-20 and 8417 in 2020-21 against 1981, 4232 and 9936 applications respectively received for licenses during the said period.
They said a total 3, 404 license had been granted to the consumers in Lahore Electric Supply Company in last three years, 3, 176 in Islamabad Electric Supply Company, 1, 159 in Multan Electric Supply Company, 740 in Peshawar Electric Supply Company, 623 in Gujranwala Electric Supply Company, 18 in Hyderabad Electric Supply Company, 13 in Sukkur Electric Supply Company and 6 in Quetta Electric Supply Company.
Similarly, 2, 340 licenses for net metering connections had been granted to the consumers in K-Electric, 348 in DHA-EME and 473 in Bahria Town during the said period.
The sources said the government /Alternative Energy Development Board has been promoting the installation of net-metering based solar energy systems under the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s
regulations at different forums including conferences, seminar, workshops and expos. Other agencies including NEPRA and DISCOs have also been promoting net-metering awareness amongst its consumers by promotional
material disseminated through websites and electricity bills, they said.
Moreover, Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) is also carrying out the certification of installers for net-metering based systems under AEDB Certification Regulations, initially announced in 2018 and recently revised in 2021, for the safe, secure and quality-assured supply of solar and wind energy generation projects, products and systems and installation and servicing thereof for small-scale industrial, agricultural, commercial and
residential installations.
Under the Regulations, the certified installers are obligated to provide the minimum warranties for the equipment as prescribed under the Regulations. Further, the installer shall ensure that the project and the equipment comprised therein is compliant with the prescribed international standards and specifications.
The number of AEDB certified installers has researched up to 150 (282MW) as compared to only 24 in December, 2019. The certified installers are also carrying out net metering awareness and promotion through electronic, print and social media.