Solar-Energy Solutions: for the Pakistani Agriculture Sector
(Tube wells only).
Introduction
This paper seeks to present some
aspects of the energy solutions for agriculture sector related to tube wells
only. The agriculture sector utilizes energy for its various functions these
other uses will be discussed in a separate paper.
Pakistan’s
agriculture sector contributes a fifth of the country’s GDP and employs almost
half of the labor force, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14. The total geographical
area of Pakistan is 79.6 million hectares. About 27% of the area is currently
under cultivation. Of this area, 80% is irrigated through artificially, i.e.,
not through rainwater. Of the total cultivated area, about 82% or around 17.58
million hectares is irrigated artificially, while crop production in the
remaining 3.96 million hectares depends on upon rainfall, for most of the part.
Around 1.2 million irrigation pumps have so far been installed in
Pakistan. Amongst these 362,626 are installed in areas with a groundwater table
of 30 feet or less, which makes them ideal for conversion to solar pumping. The
productivity of agriculture sector is dependent on the consistent supply of
water. High cost and frequent shortages of fuel are the usual impediments to
the smooth working and functioning of water extraction by tube wells. Since 90%
of these pumps use diesel directly in diesel pumps, converting the pumps on the
solar system will result in 27% savings in diesel and fuel consumption for
irrigation pumping. Moreover, the implementation of solar tube wells means an uninterrupted
supply of water; the results of which appear in the form of increased
production/yield. This solution is cost-effective too as it only involves one
time/initial cost after which the source of energy i.e. the sun will not cost
you a dime. With a payback period of fewer than three years, solar water
pumping is the “best fit” for all irrigation needs.
Agricultural solar energy systems
generate electricity from sunshine and can be installed on roofs or in open
areas. They provide electricity to farms and other rural businesses at a fixed
cost that in most cases is much lower than the cost for electricity provided by
a local utility. However, the specific costs vary considerably based on
location, utility provider, energy use profile, economic incentives and how the
utility treats excess generation.
The overall costs of agricultural
solar systems have dropped dramatically over the past decade. One reason for
this is the declining cost of solar panels, racking systems and inverters. The
installed costs of solar systems have dropped to around $2 per watt. Another is
the availability of incentives for renewable energy systems from NEPRA requiring them to allow the interconnection of
solar energy and other renewable energy systems into the electricity grid, and
to make payments to renewable energy generators for electricity produced also
known as “net metering”. Net metering is a mechanism that credits solar energy
producers for the electricity they add to the grid. If more energy is produced
than used during a billing period, then a credit either in dollars or kWh for
the excess production is made to the producer.
Availability of net metering the
utility provides has a significant impact on the payback period for an
agricultural solar system. An extreme example of this is a 20 kW solar system
used to provide energy to a farmer farmer. The solar electricity is generated
over a year while electricity used for say tube well pumping is
only used for a fewer hours than the solar is available The payback period is 20 years when net
metering is offered based on a dollar credit each billing period, even when no
incentives are used. But if kWh of electricity were credited each billing period
and the accumulated kWh over the year were credited to the producer, it would
have a payback period of just 12 years, even without any incentives.
Baluchistan Tube well – Circular Debt
To
eliminate the contributions of Baluchistan tube wells towards the formation of
circular debt, government is likely to switch 30,000 tube wells to solar power
from conventional electricity in Baluchistan. Feasibility studies are being
prepared tp\ to implement this. The Federal Ministry pays around Rs23 billion per year as subsidy for these
30,000 tube wells, which are consuming 900 megawatts, and their conversion to
solar power will result in reducing the burden on the national exchequer
It is feared that availability of cheap electricity will have negative effect on ground water table due to overexploitation as the province was already water but it should be considered that electricity is being supplied to Baluchistan tube wells at one third the cost to the farmers and both Federal and Provincial governments pay an equivalent amount each.
It is feared that availability of cheap electricity will have negative effect on ground water table due to overexploitation as the province was already water but it should be considered that electricity is being supplied to Baluchistan tube wells at one third the cost to the farmers and both Federal and Provincial governments pay an equivalent amount each.
Diesel to Solar
conversion of Tube wells
The majority of Pakistan's tube well pumps, which pump out
underground water, run on the strained national grid or on diesel power. With a
fuel consumption of around 3-5/ litres/hr., the average daily expense per
diesel tube well is about US $ 7/day.
In Pakistan, there are over 1.1 million agriculture tube wells,
with only 30% of them operated by electricity. As the country faces a growing
energy crisis, farmers are left with no option but to switch from diesel to
solar energy to irrigate their crops. Tube wells consume around 2,000 million liters
of diesel every year.
A typical example would tube
wells on Diesel consume diesel cost at
to Rs 29,000 per month An expenditure of Rs 1.8 million resulted in long
term economic benefits to the farmer. Chairman of Pakistan Solar Association urged
the government to do more to spread solar power: he called for a 20,000-MW
solar target by 2026, following the example of India’s National Solar Mission..
Pakistan should continue to develop its
renewable energy sector as a way of reducing its reliance on volatile fossil
imports for electricity.
Pakistan is located in a region with ample sun energy that
makes it suitable to utilize solar power technologies. The conversion of tube
wells onto solar energy shall help reduce long-term costs for the farmers;
provide a predictable supply of electricity, and a hedge against market fuel
price volatility. This shall further help mitigate harmful emissions. According
to an estimate, per hour cost of running an average-sized tube well on
electricity is Rs138, on diesel it is Rs173 and on solar energy it is Rs83.
Farmers who have tube wells with less than 50 feet water table can save Rs131
per hour and hence Rs. 314, 400 per year can be saved with solar tube wells as
compared with diesel-run tube wells.
The electricity supply to the rural communities remains unreliable due to network conditions and due to the forced load shedding policy where feeders with high theft are switched off. Solar tube wells are now becoming increasingly affordable and can be deployed for both Open Flood Irrigation and Drip Irrigation methods. . Conservative estimates by experts have indicated that the agricultural yield in Pakistan can be increased more than 20% only by having timely availability of water. Of course, if farmers have water supply in their own control, through the use of solar tube wells, they could further invest in yield enhancing technologies like; drip-irrigation, green-houses, and tunnel farming. In order to ensure a steady food supply for generations to come, it is imperative to improve on water management practices.
The electricity supply to the rural communities remains unreliable due to network conditions and due to the forced load shedding policy where feeders with high theft are switched off. Solar tube wells are now becoming increasingly affordable and can be deployed for both Open Flood Irrigation and Drip Irrigation methods. . Conservative estimates by experts have indicated that the agricultural yield in Pakistan can be increased more than 20% only by having timely availability of water. Of course, if farmers have water supply in their own control, through the use of solar tube wells, they could further invest in yield enhancing technologies like; drip-irrigation, green-houses, and tunnel farming. In order to ensure a steady food supply for generations to come, it is imperative to improve on water management practices.
Almost half of Pakistan’s total electricity generation comes
from expensive thermal energy sources and this means electricity prices have
become unaffordable, according to the country’s 2013 National Power Policy.
Agriculture tube wells can be operated directly from solar
panels as no batteries are required to store the energy farmers can recover costs within three to four
years by saving on diesel and electricity bills. But few farmers can afford the initial investment. Around 85% of
farmers have less than ten hectares of land and they cannot afford agriculture
inputs like seed, fertilizers and pesticides, let alone the installation of
solar water pumps to irrigate their land Government subsidies would help. The
government should consider giving 50% subsidy on installation of solar tube
wells to small growers,”
Progress
The use of solar-powered tube wells has great potential for
minimizing the cost of irrigation and for making agriculture efficient and environment
friendly.
Since the 2010-11 fiscal year, when agriculture (along with other departments) became a completely provincial subject after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, provincial governments have been trying to help farmers switch over to solar-powered tube wells. But progress in this regard has been slower than anticipated. One major reason is perhaps the use of subsidies instead of programs to raise awareness and to help create a domestic market.
Encouraging banks to lend money to farmers for installing solar-powered tube wells a few years back was a right step in the right direction. But then banks prefer operating in an organized market and seldom agree on becoming part of an evolving market. Therefore, prioritized lending areas remain neglected even after repeated reminders by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The SBP`s revised scheme for renewable energy introduced in June 2016 is a case in point. Under that scheme, the scope of bank lending for renewable energy projects was extended to smaller projects for generating up to one megawatt of electricity. That came as a ray for hope for the installation of solar-powered tube wells on a mass scale. But it still remains a dream.
In September 2016 USAID, the American agency for development aid, also signed an agreement with five Pakistani banks namely HBL, MCB Bank, Faysal Bank, Meezan Bank and JS Bank to help them lend for clean energy projects under an $88m project.These banks rolled out schemes for clean energy financing, including loans for solar-powered tube wells. But individual farmers still complain about the difficulties in obtaining loans.
Bankers claim that in most cases applicants don`t fulfill the paperwork requirements, which makes it difficult for banks to approve loans. However, small and medium sized companies that import and install solar panels are getting loans from banks.There are over two dozen such companies active in business. But only a few suppliers of solar panels for tube wells in subsidized schemes in Punjab and elsewhere are thriving, industry sources say.
The Punjab government has been providing farmers with solar-powered tube wells on 80 per cent subsidy since 2013-14. Besides, it has also been working, with the help of foreign funding, to replace conventional tube wells with those that run on solar power.The Sindh government is also pursuing similar plans. It is already working on 11 separate schemes to install solar-powered tube wells and pumping stations at a cost of Rs7.8bn. Of this, Rs2.6bn has already been utilized, However, despite efforts by provincial governments and big individual landlords, the pace of progress to promote solar-powered tube wells remains slow. Moreover, there`s no data showing the number of such tube wells currently in operation.
Provincial authorities collect and report the number of tube wells and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research presents consolidated data on the basis of those numbers. However, until 2014-15 (the last year for which data is available), solar-powered tube wells were not shown separately. One reason for not collecting separate data may be that they constitute a tiny percentage of the total.
At the end of 2014-15, an estimated 1.3m tube wells were in operation, up from 1m in 2011-12. Media reports suggest that only a few thousand among them were solar-powered. The latest move to replace 30,000 conventional tube-wells in Baluchistan to solar powered ones can boost the number of such tube-wells in the short run. But authorities must also start maintaining exclusive data on solar-powered tube wells for effective policymaking and market development
Since the 2010-11 fiscal year, when agriculture (along with other departments) became a completely provincial subject after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, provincial governments have been trying to help farmers switch over to solar-powered tube wells. But progress in this regard has been slower than anticipated. One major reason is perhaps the use of subsidies instead of programs to raise awareness and to help create a domestic market.
Encouraging banks to lend money to farmers for installing solar-powered tube wells a few years back was a right step in the right direction. But then banks prefer operating in an organized market and seldom agree on becoming part of an evolving market. Therefore, prioritized lending areas remain neglected even after repeated reminders by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The SBP`s revised scheme for renewable energy introduced in June 2016 is a case in point. Under that scheme, the scope of bank lending for renewable energy projects was extended to smaller projects for generating up to one megawatt of electricity. That came as a ray for hope for the installation of solar-powered tube wells on a mass scale. But it still remains a dream.
In September 2016 USAID, the American agency for development aid, also signed an agreement with five Pakistani banks namely HBL, MCB Bank, Faysal Bank, Meezan Bank and JS Bank to help them lend for clean energy projects under an $88m project.These banks rolled out schemes for clean energy financing, including loans for solar-powered tube wells. But individual farmers still complain about the difficulties in obtaining loans.
Bankers claim that in most cases applicants don`t fulfill the paperwork requirements, which makes it difficult for banks to approve loans. However, small and medium sized companies that import and install solar panels are getting loans from banks.There are over two dozen such companies active in business. But only a few suppliers of solar panels for tube wells in subsidized schemes in Punjab and elsewhere are thriving, industry sources say.
The Punjab government has been providing farmers with solar-powered tube wells on 80 per cent subsidy since 2013-14. Besides, it has also been working, with the help of foreign funding, to replace conventional tube wells with those that run on solar power.The Sindh government is also pursuing similar plans. It is already working on 11 separate schemes to install solar-powered tube wells and pumping stations at a cost of Rs7.8bn. Of this, Rs2.6bn has already been utilized, However, despite efforts by provincial governments and big individual landlords, the pace of progress to promote solar-powered tube wells remains slow. Moreover, there`s no data showing the number of such tube wells currently in operation.
Provincial authorities collect and report the number of tube wells and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research presents consolidated data on the basis of those numbers. However, until 2014-15 (the last year for which data is available), solar-powered tube wells were not shown separately. One reason for not collecting separate data may be that they constitute a tiny percentage of the total.
At the end of 2014-15, an estimated 1.3m tube wells were in operation, up from 1m in 2011-12. Media reports suggest that only a few thousand among them were solar-powered. The latest move to replace 30,000 conventional tube-wells in Baluchistan to solar powered ones can boost the number of such tube-wells in the short run. But authorities must also start maintaining exclusive data on solar-powered tube wells for effective policymaking and market development
Large-scale
farmers are installing new solar tube wells on their farmlands but small-scale
farmers cannot afford the cost of around Rs 1.5 million private banks could
finance the installation of the solar powered water pumps as they finance
seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
Working of Solar
Water Pumps:
A typical solar water pumping system consists of
three components:
·
Solar cells
·
Inverter
·
Pump
Solar cells are made of thin sheets of silicon or
another semiconductor which capture the sun’s rays to convert them to direct
current electricity. Through wiring, the DC power goes to the controller where
it is converted into AC electricity and is further transmitted to the pump. The
pump utilizes this electricity to bring the underground water to the surface,
which is then distributed according to the configuration of the irrigation
system.
A solar-powered water system is made of two basic
parts. The solar electric modules are the power house. The electricity from the
panels goes to the motor and pump, which send the water through the pipe to
where you want it. Many solar-powered water systems pump the water into a large
holding tank. This reserves storage supplies during cloudy weather or at night.
Solar modules are usually installed on special ground or pole mounting
structures. For more output, modules are installed on a tracker - a mounting
structure that follows the sun like a sunflower. The sketch presented above
presents the outlines of each component.
Advantages of Solar
Water Pumps:
Pakistan is among countries that have sun which
warms throughout the year, Pakistan therefore has a strong solar potential.
Over 95% of the Area of the country has radiations of 5-7 kWh/s m –day. Solar
water pumps are an excellent investment, and their benefits appear in the
following way:
·
Zero operational cost and minimal maintenance cost
·
Environment-friendly mechanism; no noise pollution
and zero emissions of carbon dioxide
·
High reliability and maximum durability
·
Energy independence
·
No requirement of fuel
·
Irrigation is made possible even on difficult
terrains where conventional system of irrigation is not accessible
Conclusions
Rapidly decreasing
solar costs presents an opportunity to planners and decision makers to
implement a country wide program that will address a number of problems. Use of
solar for irrigation tube wells will: reduce cost of pumping to farmers; reduce
import of fossil fuels; will reduce dependence upon imported sources of energy;
will enable the achievement of objective of use of indigenous sources of energy;
will be efficient and will reduce waste of energy; diversify the energy sector
and will add to the share of renewable in the energy mix, it will also assist
in eradication of circular debt that is crippling the energy and power sector,
.
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