Sindh Solar Energy Project to light up 500,000 off-grid households

KARACHI: The Sindh Solar Energy Project will power as many as 500,000 off-grid homes across the province.

This was informed during a meeting of Sindh leadership, which included Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah among others, at the CM House. Energy Minister Nasir Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah and Energy Secretary Musadiq Khan also attended the meeting.

The meeting decided to implement PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led free-of-cost electricity project for off-grid consumers, a statement from the CM House read.

Chief Minister Shah said that a 100-watt Solar Home System (SHS) could power three LED bulbs, a 35-watt DC fan and a six-hour battery back-up with mobile charging ports.

The CM was informed that officials concerned had calculated the cost of a single SHS to be approximately Rs50,000 and that the total cost for 2.6 million SHS would be around Rs25 billion.

It was further stated that the energy department had identified 800,000 households with electricity usage of 50 units per month. Out of the 0.8 million homes, 441,483 were in K-Electric’s jurisdiction, 229,338 in the jurisdiction of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), and 125,500 in Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco).

The chief minister directed the officials concerned to develop six micro grids, each one of 75kW, within all six divisions as a pilot project.

SHS is being developed under the Singh Solar Energy Project, which itself is being sponsored by the World Bank to provide low-cost electricity to off-grid households as well as homes using up to 50 units of electricity per month.