Buyback fee for photo voltaic web era more likely to be decreased to Rs11 per unit; contract interval decreased from 7 to five years
ISLAMABAD:
The federal government could face political backlash as photo voltaic web metering is nearly useless in Pakistan after the Nationwide Electrical Energy Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) abolished trade of electrical energy items in photo voltaic web metering on Monday in a blow to customers needing to shift to renewables.
At current, the buyback fee for photo voltaic web era is Rs25.9 per unit which can be decreased to Rs11 per unit. The contract interval has been decreased from seven to 5 years. The burden of IPPs capability funds is being shifted to photo voltaic customers now.
Discos will cost their fee for electrical energy which can be as much as Rs50 per unit and can obtain electrical energy from customers at day at attainable fee of Rs11 per unit.
The brand new buyback has not been notified but it surely was mentioned at Rs11 per unit throughout discussions with stakeholders. The photo voltaic web customers must pay web distinction to Discos after trade of unit regime involves an finish.
The coverage won’t apply to present customers. Nevertheless, Discos have been authorised both to terminate or shift customers to new coverage after expiry of contract.
Pakistan’s energy regulator has overhauled the nation’s web metering regime, shifting rooftop photo voltaic and different small mills to a brand new “web billing” system below the NEPRA (Prosumer) Regulations, 2026, a transfer that basically modifications how electrical energy producers are paid and repeals the decade-old web metering framework.
Underneath the brand new guidelines, notified at this time by NEPRA, utilities will probably be required to buy extra electrical energy from prosumers, households, companies and industries producing as much as 1 megawatt on the nationwide common vitality buy value, whereas promoting electrical energy again to them on the relevant shopper tariff, successfully ending one-to-one web metering.
The laws apply to photo voltaic, wind and biogas methods and take impact instantly, changing the NEPRA Various & Renewable Vitality Distributed Era and Web Metering Rules, 2015. Current prosumers will proceed below their present agreements till expiry, however all future renewals will fall below the brand new billing construction.
NEPRA has capped the utmost measurement of a distributed era facility at 1MW, and restricted system capability to the sanctioned load of the buyer, with a key technical restriction that no new connections will probably be allowed if era on a transformer reaches 80% of its rated capability. Methods of 250kW or above should endure a compulsory load circulate examine.
Utilities are required to course of purposes inside strict timelines, acknowledging requests inside 5 working days, finishing technical evaluations inside 15 days, and putting in interconnection amenities inside 15 days after fee. Prosumers should additionally receive formal concurrence from NEPRA, which the regulator says will probably be issued inside seven working days.
Financially, all interconnection prices, together with meters and grid upgrades, will probably be borne by the prosumer, whereas NEPRA has launched a non-refundable concurrence charge of Rs1,000 per kilowatt. Metering should assist two-way measurement, both via a single bidirectional meter or twin meters.
The usual settlement time period has been set at 5 years in opposition to seven years beforehand, renewable by mutual consent, whereas utilities retain the fitting to disconnect methods in case of faults, non-compliance, or for upkeep, with or with out discover. Prosumers are barred from promoting energy to 3rd events utilizing the utility’s community.
NEPRA has additionally granted itself broad powers to revise buy charges through the lifetime of agreements, concern binding instructions, demand operational information, impose penalties, and calm down or modify provisions the place obligatory.
The shift to web billing marks probably the most vital coverage reversals in Pakistan’s renewable vitality sector, redefining the economics of rooftop photo voltaic and signaling a tighter regulatory grip because the variety of distributed mills continues to surge.
