Pakistani Parliament becomes First in world to run on Solar Energy

Pakistani Parliament becomes First in world to run on Solar Energy which will contribute additional electricity to the national grid as well. The project was officially launched during the visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping last year.

The project has been funded by the Chinese government as an act of friendship, with the solar power plant costing around £36.5 million. Now on complete, it produces 80 megawatts of electricity.

Pakistani Parliament becomes First in world to run on Solar Energy

The National Assembly building was shifted to the installed solar power plant on Friday which means building will consume zero unit of electricity supplied from the national grid.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced that

The solar panels in the house generate 80 MW of electricity, 62 MW of which are consumed by the National Assembly and 18 MW are contributed to the national grid.

Special secretary at the National Assembly, Munawar Abbas Shah, previously commented:

“This is the first project of its kind [in a public building] in Pakistan, and later more public buildings will be converted to solar power to overcome the energy crisis.” “The consumption of electricity in the parliament even jumps over two megawatts in summers when the house is in session.”

The Israeli parliament, Knesset, also generates its own solar power but only 10 percent of its energy needs are met through solar electricity.

Moreover the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority also issued the first ‘Net Metering’ license to the National Assembly in the country. A Net Metering system helps in delivering and adding surplus production of energy to the national grid. The project is also environment friendly because it reduces emissions of hazardous gases.