Chief Minister Punjab, Usman Buzdar said that 100-megawatt electricity would be produced by a solar project at district Layyah in South Punjab. The electricity produced by this plant would be the cheapest at 3.7 Cent/unit.
The total cost of the project is Rs 100 billion. The letter of support was signed in the office of the Chief Minister. An agreement has been done with a private investor Zhenfa Pakistan and the Government of Punjab.
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Talking at the ceremony, the Chief Minister said that contrary to the previous governments the focus of the present government is to produce cheaper electricity. He also said that schools, colleges, universities, basic health units, and other government offices would be converted to solar energy.
The electricity produced by the solar project will fulfill the energy needs of 70 thousand houses in South Punjab. The Minister for Energy, Umar Ayub Khan said that previous governments installed expensive projects of gas and oil while the present government is striving hard to bank upon the cheaper sources of energy.
The technical advice is being provided by the department of energy to solarize the University of Engineering and Technology. The proposal of converting the WASA, industrial states and orange line, etc. to solar energy is also under consideration. 17 crore and 30 lac units of electricity would be given to the national grid from this project.
Net metering will be brought into a single phase. The present government along with the provincial government are penetrating hard to face the challenge of energy crises which may be intensified if appropriate actions are not taken.
The Punjab Government’s effort to generate 100-megawatt electricity through the solar plant is highly appreciable as this is one of the cheapest ways of producing electricity. It is worth mentioning that the present government is facing the big challenge of debt servicing and facing hardships to maintain economic stability in the country. In this situation, the production of cheap electricity is a step by the government of Punjab which is highly applauded.
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