Syed Muhammad who sells home appliances in the Khyber district’s Bara Market is in hot water these days. He says that customers don’t buy any electronics without a trial but due to electricity outages, he is unable to sell anything.

“I had installed a commercial electricity meter to avoid power outages during shop hours. But I had to remove the connection as I had received a Rs90,000 bill the very first month.”

Syed Muhammad points out that the electricity available on a commercial meter is much more expensive than that of a domestic connection. However, domestic consumers face up to 20 hours of power outages while commercial feeders have less hours of loadshedding but higher bills. That’s why fewer people have got an electricity connection in the market.

Project to switch to solar energy

Given this situation, the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo) decided to switch commercial centres of the tribal districts to solar energy in 2019.

The project initiated as “Solarization of 13 Mini-Grids” under the provincial government was supposed to complete by June 30, 2023 but it is still under process.

According to the data from the Tribal Area Electric Supply Company (Tesco), 800MW electricity is required in the rural areas of the merged districts of the province. However, up to 280MW is currently available, showing a shortfall of about 600MW.

Ali Muhammad Khan, the trader leader of Bara Market, says 8,000 shops are registered with his organisation. Around 150 shopkeepers buy expensive electricity at Rs70 per unit from Tesco while others have to work in the presence of generators’ disturbing noise.

“We heard that the government would soon provide the traders with solar power connections but the issue is still there even after four years. The district administration has not given any notification or information in this regard,” he laments.

The Pedo annual progress report 2021-22 mentioned that the four mini-grids plan (DI Khan, Kohat, FR Lakki, and FR Bannu) was abandoned at the beginning of the solarisation project. After completing work in Peshawar and North Waziristan, five of the remaining nine grids have been finished. However, as of 2021, work has not yet begun in Khyber and South Waziristan.

Pedo (Electrical) Assistant Director Nouman Dar explains that each of the nine solar mini-grids will generate 175kW electricity, which will be supplied to more than 130 shops. In this way, this project will not only save Rs53m annually but also reduce the additional burden on the national grid.

He says Rs757m was reserved for these nine mini-grids, of which Rs400m has been released so far. Overall, this project has covered 80pc civil, 80pc electro-mechanical, and 55pc wire work.

Talking to Lok Sujag, Pedo Project Director Asfandyar Khattak claims that the work had started in Bara (Khyber) in 2020.

Eight kanals of land was purchased by the district administration for the project, which came out as a major issue as regular land records are not available in the merged districts.

He says Rs43m was allocated for the Bara Solar Mini Grid and 330 solar panels have been installed here so far. However, the project completion faced numerous hurdles, including a lack of funds. Even the local people object to laying power lines.

Power transmission without poles?

Sher Ali Khan is a local farmer whose farm is located near Bara Mini-Solar Grid. He strongly objects to laying wires without poles on his land, saying: “The wires will pass through my farm, so how will I water them? I can't risk my life and the lives of people walking through the farm.”

He has no objection if the government installs poles like Wapda’s to transmit electricity from this grid because it will not harm crops or any passer-by.

The question of supervision

Pedo Project Director Khattak states that once the meters are installed at the shops and the mini-grid supply is operational, the project will be handed over to the deputy commissioner. A committee, formed in consultation with the business community, will then be entrusted with the responsibility for its maintenance and safety.

“Maintenance and repair of the system for two years will be the responsibility of the installing company. The electricity price of the grid electricity will be fixed at Rs16 per unit and the bill amount will be deposited with the commissioner's account, which will be spent on the maintenance of the grid and the system.”

Khattak claims that the solar grid will provide 24-hour electricity while battery backup will be used in case of bad weather or any other situation.

Mini-grid’s security issues

There is a wall around eight kanals of land for the solar mini-grid set up in Bara but it is crumbling from many places and a barbed wire on the wall is also hanging down. Even rainwater drainage from the premises was ignored during this civil work, which poses a threat to the valuable machinery.

A private company owned by Rokhil Khan has built the mini-solar grid. He says that Pedo gave him the contract in 2019 but the district administration bought the land for the project in January 2023. However, as per the contract, he completed the construction within four months.

According to him, the estimated cost of the project was Rs43m, of which he has received only 70pc of funds. He is planning to proceed to court to get the remaining amount.

“The guard at the grid has not been paid for a year, which is not our concern. However, we will not continue the grid work until the due payments are made. The safety and maintenance of the solar mini-grid are the responsibilities of Pedo but it is not fulfilling this duty. We are facing losses because equipment prices have increased significantly over the past two years,” says Rokhil Khan.

However, Pedo Project Director Khattak denies the contractor’s allegations, saying once the grid is completed, Pedo will take it over and hand it over to the district administration but before that site security is the job of the contractor.

“However, we are consulting with the authorities for the immediate release of funds and the project is expected to be made functional soon,” he claims.

On the other hand, officials of the district administration say that it is the Pedo’s responsibility to clear all these hurdles as they cannot do anything in this regard.