Peshawar – The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has initiated two major projects worth around Rs55 billion for the solarization of all public buildings and the provision of solar units to low-income households, with the aim of addressing the electricity crisis and making the province free of load shedding.
Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between the Bank of Khyber (BoK) and the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) for the implementation of the solarization projects, at a ceremony held at the Chief Minister’s House, with Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur as the chief guest.
Besides the newly-appointed Special Assistant to the CM for Energy and Power, Tariq Sadozai, senior officials from the Energy and Power, Finance departments, and PEDO also attended the MoU signing ceremony.
According to the MoUs, the solarization of public buildings across the province will include hospitals, universities, colleges, schools, police stations, prisons, tube wells, street lights, and other government offices.
The estimated cost of the overall project is Rs 20 billion. Initially, 13,000 public buildings have been identified for conversion to solar energy, and their solarization will be carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 15 billion.
Additionally, under the solarization of houses project, a total of 130,000 low-income households will be provided with solar units. Of these, 65,000 households will receive solar units free of charge, while the remaining 65,000 households will be provided solar units with a 50% contribution from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and 50% from the beneficiaries. The overall estimated cost of this project is around 35 billion rupees. Under this initiative, approximately 100,000 houses in settled districts and 30,000 houses in merged districts will be converted to solar energy.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister stated that the provincial government is making a significant investment in the energy sector to ensure a reliable, load-shedding-free electricity supply for citizens, while also increasing revenue for the province. He emphasized that areas experiencing higher load shedding and energy losses would be prioritized for solarization.
The Chief Minister also noted that providing solar units would alleviate the heavy burden of electricity bills on citizens and ensure a continuous power supply without load shedding. He added that the solarization of government buildings would result in substantial savings on electricity bills.
“This year’s budget has been named the Green Budget. The newly initiated solarization schemes are of national importance, and their implementation will also reduce the burden on the national grid,” he concluded.
