The decision to significantly review the repurchase prices in which energy distribution companies buy electricity from the owners of solar roof systems is the right step towards the capital of energy prices for all consumers.
According to the revised policy of net measurement, distribution companies will buy solar surplus unwanted electricity from consumers mid network to RS10 per unit, for almost 63 percent of RS27, during the day, while the network energy is sold to them by RS42 during peak and RS48 hours during the maximum hours (prices are ‘net of applicable taxes) or in the rates applicable by home with the house National with the home with the home with the home with the home with the home with the home with the home with the home with the home. The reviewed tariffs will be applied to new solar or mid -network consumers distributed; The existing beneficiaries will change under this framework after the expiration of their seven -year contracts. In addition, consumers of net measures would no longer be allowed to install the solar capacity that exceeds their sanctioned load, except for a 10 -piece mattress, compared to the current 50pc margin.
The reviews were necessary due to three factors. One, most of the owners of solar energy on the roof have installed much more surplus solar energy than they need for self -consumption. This helps them export surplus electrons to the network during the day and import them after sunset. Surplus electrons exported to distribution companies in winter often recover in summer. It is equivalent to using the grid as a large storage battery while avoiding the payment of capacity charges and transmission costs in electricity consumption.
Secondly, households with rich urban measures are causing an impact of nine paisas per unit on the average electricity cost that, according to the Ministry of Energy, could increase to RS3.6 by 2034 if the policy does not change. At the end of December 2024, the 283,000 solar owners of the existing roof had already transferred the load of RS159bn to those that depend on the energy of the network. Third, there are valid concerns that greater penetration of distributed solar energy could put infrastructure at risk of failure, since most surplus loads by Network are concentrated in larger cities where rapid capacity expansion could compromise supply stability.
It is natural that changes in distributed solar policy, which lead to the reduction of repurchase rates, and the change to net billing for net measurement, has been criticized. But the opprobrium generated by policy reviews is out of place because this will increase recovery periods for consumers who have installed or planned to install large solar systems. The fall of the solar panel and equipment prices will maintain the recovery recovery period despite the strictest net measurement conditions, at least for those that have sufficient capacity for self -consumption despite the changes in the tariff structure for distributed solar energy. Some may argue that the alterations in the incentives will discourage the solarization in the roof, but that is unlikely because solar energy remains cheaper than the network and will become more profitable as technology improves.
Posted in Dawn, March 15, 2025
