Pakistan PM Announces Solarisation of All Govt Buildings by Coming April

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the federal government has decided to install solar power panels on all government buildings in the country to harness green energy and reduce dependency on imported fossil-fuel based power. At first, the federal government buildings of Pakistan will be solarised and they will run entirely on Solar Power by the coming April.

Shehbaz Sharif said that the solar project concerned government buildings will save 300 – 500 MW every month and bring down the import bill that is currently around $27 billion a year. He was addressing a solar power conference in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan.

The chief executive of the Islamic country held that all federal ministries, departments, authorities and attached offices will be required to install solar energy in the coming four months. This, he said, will motivate the provinces to adopt solar. He urged the Chief Ministers to replicate the federal plan and introduce solar power systems in their provinces.

Pakistan has already started the process to produce 10,000 MW of solar power, said Sharif, while maintaining the solarisation of federal government buildings is the First Phase of the project. He also informed that the entire process shall be conducted through transparent bidding. A third party will be involved in it.

Debt and reforms

The Pakistan PM said that the situation of power and economic crisis were caused by the unbridled circular debts in the power sector. The power sector debt stands today at Rs 2.5 trillion. He hinted towards some key reforms to take the country out of the power crisis and solar power expansion is one of them for which bureaucrats are required to rejuvenate themselves and clear files without fear.

“Due to a lack of responsibility and reforms, the circular debt in the power sector has become a monster and all previous governments of the last 30 years are responsible for it. The circular debt has become four times bigger than our development funds of Rs700 billion,” said the Prime Minister.

He also called the Russia-Ukraine conflict a key reason behind the skyrocketing fuel and gas prices. Pakistan wants to increase its renewable energy share to 60 per cent by 2030. Last August, the Pakistan government kicked off 9,000 MW worth projects under ‘Solar Energy Initiatives’ keeping in view the constant hikes in electricity prices due to the swelling fuel costs.