Middle class misses out on Pakistan’s solar push

#Middle #class #misses #Pakistans #solar #push

In April, between 40 degrees Heat in the coastal city of Karachi, Saad Saleem closely affected his air conditioning.

Electricity prices have increased, but as part of the solar boom in Pakistan, it has made a rich businessman baseless since spending 7,500 on the roof of his bungalow.

Saleem had bought his modules two years ago, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the economically disturbing Pakistan were putting hammers in the initial bailout program. Under this agreement, Pakistan raised electricity and gas prices to help the suppliers struggling in the heavy slain sector.

Pakistanis now pay more than a quarter for electricity, a rotation to install solar modules.

According to the UK Energy Think Tank Amber, solar supply more than 14 % of Pakistan’s power supply last year, which was more than 4 % in 2021 and is displaced by coal as the third largest energy source.

According to Reuters’ Amber data analysis, this share is almost twice in China, the world’s largest supplier of solar panels and the world leader in Green Technologies, and the highest rate in Asia.

But according to an interview with more than two dozen people, including two dozen people, consumers and power sector analysts, more than two dozen people, including consumers and power sector analysts, have been forced to reduce electricity due to solar bills.

Most of the country’s solar panels are not connected to sell more scope, so the benefits of cheap and reliable strength are not widely shared.

With solar access from the National Grid, a flight of rich Pakistanis has caused more shock to those who trust the traditional sources of power.

According to Arizachal, a Karachi -based energy consultation, the power companies, which lost their most profitable customers, have been forced to raise prices in the ponds of consumers to meet operating costs.

Countries like South Africa also face a widespread energy difference after the propaganda residents adopt solar energy. But analysts are particularly watching Pakistan because of this pace, which has led to 250 million people taking sun -based energy.

“It can act as a precautionary story on how the rules and policy need to maintain technological change and rapidly -developing economics,” said Hanni Ashad, an energy finance expert in Islamabad at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

In an interview with Reuters, Minister of Power Avis Legisi acknowledged the energy difference, but said that when the IMF approved the reduction, the revenue has decreased significantly since June 2024.

He also pointed to the heavy solar full of rural Pakistanis, many of which had limited access to the grid. Many non -citizen Pakistanis have set up small solar setups to meet their electricity needs, which are usually far less than their counterparts in their city.

“Pakistan has really gone through a solar revolution,” he said. “Grid day is about to be cleansed, and this is something we have achieved as a nation we are proud of.”

The IMF did not return the comment requests.

Energy distribution

Just a few miles from Salem’s advanced neighborhood, Nadia Khan has reorganized her life to reduce electricity costs.

The domestic maker is rarely used in the apartment, and he has left most of his clothes wearing most of his clothes, citing the cost of electricity.

Khan’s family is not lonely to retreat: More than 400 units of only 1 % of the payments are used in 2024, with the first Karachi -based consultancy renewable sources first, less than 10 % before the outbreak.

Like the people of the people of Pakistan apartments without any place to install solar modules, Khan has been removed from the revolution.

The roofs of many of the apartments have been designated for other purposes of water storage and cleaning, while the owners of rented buildings have little incentive to invest in solar contacts for their tenants.

“We get some sunlight inside the house, but I can’t think of a way to go with solar power,” he said. “Why should people living in apartments suffer?”

Meanwhile, ground -owned Pakistanis have taken advantage of the gut of low -cost solar modules that are closed to the West by high taxes.

According to Amber, China exported 16.6 GHwat solar capacity to Pakistan last year, about five times higher in 2022. The average cost of the capacity of the solar module also decreased by 54 % in the same period.