The Army plans to generate energy from solar power for self-consumption in its cantonments across the country as part of the effort to help alleviate the energy crisis facing the nation.
Media reports citing sources at the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) have claimed that the Pakistan Army has decided to switch its Cantonments from an expensive energy system to less expensive solar power.
The Army plans to generate energy from solar power for self-consumption in its cantonments across the country as part of the effort to help alleviate the energy crisis facing the nation.
The CEO of AEDB and a number of other senior officials have been informed by Colonel Mansoor Mustafa, Director General Works and Chief Engineer (Army), that the Army intends to contribute to the eradication of the current energy crisis by generating energy using solar power.
With the assistance of AEDB, National Electric Power Regulatory (NEPRA), and the State Bank of Pakistan, the projects have already received government approval in Pakistan (SBP).
Through open competition, the Pakistan Army selected the winning vendors for the projects, including M/s Nizam Energy, M/s Solis Energy Solutions, and M/s Foundation Solar Energy.
At various cantonments throughout Pakistan, Military Engineering Services (MES) is currently working on projects totaling 54MW, with some of these projects making more than 70% progress so far.
Vendors are having trouble importing components from offshore, which has caused several projects to be delayed for the past six months.
In order to align its vendors with the same facility offered to Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) providers under the scheme, the General Headquarters (GHQ) has asked the AEDB and other authorities involved in the Prime Minister’s Initiative on “Clean and Green Energy” to do so.
They will be able to finish the Army’s unfinished projects and use solar energy to generate cleaner, less expensive electricity.
The government wants to build 10,000 MW worth of solar power plants across the nation to reduce the price of electricity production, which is currently too expensive for industrial, commercial, and residential consumers.
The government has already made the decision to switch the federal buildings’ energy source to solar power. According to NEPRA, which oversees the nation’s power industry, the power companies have not improved recovery or reduced losses, which has resulted in higher electricity rates.
Additionally, the regulator suggested that the government privatise discos, with the intention of transferring at least one disco to each province. Rashid Mehmood Langrial, the secretary of power, claims that the country’s annual defence budget is exceeded by losses in the power sector.