ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to install solar panels atop its tubewells and waterworks in various parts of the capital to produce 4.5 megawatt electricity.

The electricity produced through the solar system will be used for operating the waterworks and tubewells and added to the national grid as well.

A press release issued by the CDA on Tuesday said PC-1 worth Rs80 million had been prepared for the solar system and would be sent for approval soon.

When contacted, deputy director general water supply directorate Sardar Khan Zimri said once installed the solar system will produce electricity for 25 years. Within the first four years, it will meet the expenditure of Rs80 million to be incurred on the installation of the system.

He said a solar system of two megawatt will be installed at the sewage treatment plant in I-9 while another to produce one megawatt each will be installed at waterworks at Pona Faqiran and near the sports complex.

He said solar panels for getting half a megawatt electricity will also be installed in Rose and Jasmine Park.

The official said a total of 10 megawatt electricity was required for water projects and in the next phase the CDA will install solar panels to produce 5.5 megawatt.

He said another project to install 100 filtration plants was also in progress which will be completed in two months.

The press release said that besides the solar system project, the CDA was also going to launch a project worth Rs50 million to replace old and dysfunctional water pumping motors.

An official of the CDA said the installation of the solar system was a cost effective initiative, however, in the past the CDA had made several such announcements only to shelve them later.

He said a couple of years ago the CDA had decided that flow meters would be installed at the start and tail of pipelines at tubewells to check the volume of water being supplied to the consumers but so far that project could not be executed.

Currently, on paper, the CDA receives around 70 million gallons of water daily (MGD) from three sources: Simly Dam, Khanpur Dam and tubewells. However, officials said water reaching the end users was far less than 70mgd.

To check the flow of water reaching the end users, the CDA had decided to installed meters but later hat project was also shelved.

It is relevant to note that Islamabad faces water shortage in summers as during the last two decades no new water source was explored. The proposed mega Ghazi Barotha project has been under discussion since 2008.

Whenever this project is executed, it will provide 100mgd water each to Rawalpindi and Islamabad. In 2017, the CDA had calculated that Rs77 billions were required for the project.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2022