The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to provide free solar systems to one lakh families across the province.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has instructed officials to provide solar systems to impoverished families experiencing load shedding in the province. Under this initiative, each eligible family in Pakhtunkhwa will receive a 2 KV solar system.
These include solar panels, inverters, wiring equipment, bulbs, and fans.
Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah chaired a meeting on energy where he instructed the Energy Minister to initiate the process of solarising government institutions.
According to a spokesperson, Shah emphasised that solarising government buildings would reduce electricity bills.
Energy Minister Nasir Shah pledged to expedite solarisation efforts in the new financial year.
The Chief Minister then ordered that electricity supply should be disconnected in government’s residential buildings where bills are not being paid.
Additionally, he instructed officials to settle HESCO, SEPCO, and K Electric bills in August.
Dealers of solar panels have revealed that the price per watt has come down to 40 rupees or below, with the average rates of panels of various types and brands reduced to 37 rupees.
The rates have reportedly crashed due to oversupply, coming down by 30 per cent in just six months.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif announced on Friday that the government intended to encourage the use of electric vehicles in the nation and would set up a network of the necessary charging infrastructure.
The PM gave the departments involved the go-ahead to provide him with a thorough plan as soon as possible in this regard.
According to APP, Shehbaz Sharif also directed that the Board of Investment, the Ministry of Power and Energy, and the Ministry of Trade and Industries provide every opportunity to investors interested in the market for electric vehicles.
A high-level meeting on the employment of electric buses in the fleet of public transportation, the promotion of the electric vehicle industry, and alternative energy sources was presided over by him.
The prime minister underlined the urgent necessity to develop renewable energy sources in order to make the nation energy self-sufficient.
He noted that the government has recently approved the start of a 10,000-megawatt solar project.
He said that the solar project would not only lessen environmental pollution but also secure the production of inexpensive power by reducing reliance on pricey imported fuel, saving significant foreign currency.
The forum heard updates on the growing use of electric vehicles around the world as well as plans for electric buses for public transportation.
It was advised that the growth of the electric car sector and infrastructure will greatly reduce the nation’s import costs while also creating prospects for international investment and employment.
The Korean tech giant, Samsung will offer the upcoming Galaxy S23 series with larger batteries, presumably in an attempt to rival Apple’s industry-leading battery longevity. These improvements will be made possible by an electric vehicle (EV) inspired battery technology that allows a 10 per cent increase in energy density.
Apple’s existing smartphones continue to have the best battery life in the industry. Samsung’s next-generation mainstream flagships, the Galaxy S23 series, appear to be set to change things up. The Galaxy S23 series, codenamed ‘Diamond’ is expected to have significantly larger batteries than the Galaxy S22 series, according to new rumours.
The Galaxy S22, in contrast, has been chastised for reducing from the Galaxy S21’s 4,000 mAh battery to a 3,700 mAh unit. Samsung is expected to address this with the Galaxy S23, which is expected to feature a 4,500 mAh battery. The Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 Ultra are expected to receive similar updates, with battery capacities increasing to 5,000 mAh and north of 5,500 mAh, respectively.
All of this appears to be due to Samsung’s ambitions to incorporate new battery technology into the Galaxy S23 series. Samsung Digital Interface (SDI) will leverage the stacking technology it uses for its EV battery production on future smartphone batteries.
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This technology will allow smartphone batteries to have a 10 per cent higher energy density. Production is allegedly already underway, with a line at the company’s plant in Tianjin, China. Still, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is unlikely to gain from this advancement.
On account of monthly Fuel Cost Adjustments (FCA), the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) raised the cost per unit of power for Karachi residents by Rs1.29.
It held a public hearing at its headquarters on Karachi Electric’s (KE) request to hike the power tariff under the FCA by Rs3.45 per unit for February. Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqi chaired the public meeting, which was also attended by officials Rafiq Ahmed Sheikh and Engineer Maqsood Anwar Khan.
According to the officials, KE’s monthly FCA is decided at Rs1.29 per unit based on data analysis.
The Chairman inquired about Karachi’s load-shedding status and if KE has a gas procurement deal with the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to address the fuel crisis.
Load management is only done on feeders with a low recovery rate, according to the latter’s officials, and consumers only have to experience one to one-and-a-half hours of load shedding every day.
Chairman Farooqui stated that KE’s technology needs to be modernised, and that there should be no load-shedding for bill-paying customers and locations where billing is timely.
He also mentioned that the NEPRA has posted phone numbers on its website for inhabitants of the city to report any forced load-shedding by any power utility.
According to the briefing delivered at the meeting, KE’s customers were charged Rs3.28 per unit in January under the FCA. Similarly, the FCA for February was decided to be Rs1.99 lesser than the January billing.
Muhamad Tanveer, who is a representative of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce (KCCI), denied the FCA, citing that customers are already paying for the January hike and that the FCA should not be transferred to them.
After reviewing the facts, the NEPRA issued a thorough judgment declaring that the FCA is only levied and set for the month in concern and that it is variable with each hearing depending on the fuel costs for that month.