Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has kicked off the drive to distribute 200,000 Solar Home Systems to disadvantaged families in two districts of Sindh under the World Bank-assisted Sindh Solar Energy Project.
A ceremony was held at the Chief Minister House in Karachi to mark the launching of the much-awaited distribution of SHS to the deprived households in the province under the World Bank-funded project aimed at promoting the usage of solar power in the province.
Bilawal while launching the distribution of SHS termed it a step ahead towards the fulfilment of one of his main election campaign promises of providing free electricity to destitute households having consumption of up to 300 units of power through solar energy. He said the recipients of SHS were the destitute households enrolled in the Benazir Income Support Programme to ensure that genuinely deserving families become beneficiaries of the Sindh government’s initiative aimed at energizing their homes through renewable energy.
He said that his party sought a sustainable solution to the electricity issue in the country. He said the green energy option would be utilised to bring down the electricity rates for the masses. Bilawal lamented that not just the countrywide electricity system of the federation had been in shambles, no federal agency had been working efficiently. He said that owing to the failure of the FBR to do its work; the government was compelled to add heightened taxes to the electricity bills.
He said that sending inflated electricity bills to the consumers is tantamount to giving an electric shock to the people as solar power is the only viable solution to the issue of expensive electricity. He said the solar energy option would be utilised to gradually provide free electricity to the low-income families in Sindh consuming up to 300 units of power to fulfil one of his election campaign promises. Bilawal said that his vision stood for brightening Pakistan’s future as the same was the recurring theme of his poll campaign speeches.
Bilawal stated that the Sindh Solar Energy Project aligns with the PPP’s poll manifesto as the same vision would have been implemented on a countrywide basis to support the poor through clean energy, had his party secured a federal mandate in the last elections. He said the PPP wanted to ease the burden on the lower-income segments of society.
He highlighted that when he initially proposed the idea of providing solar energy to low-income families, it was met with criticism from various quarters, including the media and caretaker government. However, he noted with satisfaction that the entire nation has now recognised the need to provide the poor with affordable electricity. He further explained that BISP beneficiaries are the top priority for this solar power initiative, which will eventually be expanded to all districts of Sindh.
Chairman PPP reaffirmed his party’s Sindh government’s commitment to delivering affordable electricity to the public, in line with the vision of Benazir Bhutto, through public-private partnerships such as the Thar Coal project as one such initiative to achieve this goal. He pointed out that K-Electric is currently receiving the cheapest electricity from two Sindh government plants. Moreover, the Sindh government is making additional investments in wind power and encouraging the private sector to participate in the energy sector. He also disclosed that work is underway on three energy parks in Sindh under a public-private partnership.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh CM said that his government is striving for socio-economic sustainable development of the province through green energy initiatives in line with international commitments of his government.
“Apart from the development of Indigenous Thar coal energy resources, various power projects have so far been completed in Sindh,” said the CM.
According to the CM, the completed energy sector projects include the development of a Wind corridor in Jhampir, District Thatta, where 1,845 MW of renewable power is being produced. Additionally, 40 public sector buildings, mostly hospitals, have been equipped with rooftop solar panels with a generation capacity of 26 MW. Furthermore, 352 rural health centres have been solarized with a standard 3KW solar system.
In addition to this, 24 schemes for the solarization of public sector schools, colleges, primary healthcare facilities, jails, and government buildings are in the process of installing solar panels on their rooftops, the CM said. He added that the solar programme has been further accelerated, and during the current year, 656 government schools would be equipped with solar power.
Shah applauded Bilawal Bhutto’s interest in providing the quick delivery of solar systems to the common man in line with the party election Manifesto of providing free electricity of up to 300 units. He added that this strategy is being adopted to combat the exorbitant electricity bills charged by the distribution companies from the general public.
The provincial Energy Department has collected the figures for the numbers of households having up to 300 units of electricity consumption and it was revealed that 2.6 million households have no access to electricity, 2.4 million households have a consumption of less than 100 units; 0.37 million households have a consumption of less than 200 units and 0.498 million households have a consumption of less than 300 units, said the CM.
We have developed a comprehensive plan to fulfil the party manifesto during the five-year tenure through multiple programmes including the provision of SHS to the poorest of the poor free of costs; and the provision of small SHS on a cost-sharing basis with Inverter and batteries, and provision of SHS with Inverters and batteries through interest-free loans. “To achieve these targets, several green energy projects both on-grid and off-grid have been initiated,” he said.
Sindh Energy Minister, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, also spoke on the occasion and informed the audience that the Sindh Solar Energy Project had been launched to implement the vision of the PPP Chairman, which stood for great utilization of solar energy to benefit the deprived families in rural and off-grid areas of the province.
