The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has planned to solarize all public sector buildings including hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, prisons, police stations, and other government offices alongside the solarization of tube wells and street lights with the aim to ensure availability of un-interrupted electricity to the public offices at reduced cost.
A meeting of the committee constituted for solarization of government buildings was held here the other day at Chief Minister’s Secretariat with Chief Minister Ali Amin Kham Gandapur in the chair to review progress so far made to practically launch the initiative. The meeting was attended by Advisor to Chief Minister for Finance, Muzammil Aslam and other members of the committee. The forum was briefed in detail on power required for government buildings and proposed action plan for the implementation of solarization project.
The forum was informed that data collection regarding public sector offices and energy required for them is underway. However, so far received data, some 13,000 units have made their entries, which would require a solar system with a capacity of about 73 MW for public buildings. The solarization of these units is expected to produce 92 million units of solar electricity annually. It was further told that solarization project for government buildings will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 10 billion. Upon completion, the project would result in annual savings of around 2 billion in electricity bills for the provincial government.
The Chief Minister emphasized the need to finalize the project promptly and directed the committee to complete all necessary requirements for the project’s launch within a week. He also directed that remaining task for implementation of the project be completed in the shortest possible time.
Additionally, he directed for the early launch of project for solarization of Masajid and madaris across the province. Under this initiative, 7,000 Masajid and 3,000 madaris would be converted to solar energy across the province.
