| Summary/Abstract |
Net energy metering (NEM) has become a powerful regulatory tool for promoting distributed generation (DG) worldwide. NEM aids utilities in reducing power constraints and line losses and effect positive economic gains by integrating renewable energy sources. In Pakistan, the current NEM market is limited to three-phase users, even though single-phase customers account for 90% of all residential connections, equal to 28 million, and can significantly impact Pakistan's NEM growth. Therefore, the conducted study provides the techno-economic evaluation of NEM for single-phase consumers. The article offered policy proposals to encourage distribution companies (DISCOs) and single-phase customers to adopt NEM to achieve a win-win situation. The technical analysis is conducted to see how the single-phase NEM affects voltage regulation, system unbalances, and line losses. The viability of the current feed-in tariff for single-phase NEM consumers is assessed to analyze the economic impact. The results show that if only 5% single-phase NEM is allowed, 7.54 TWh can be renewably added to the grid, reducing 4.95 Mtonn CO2 emissions. Furthermore, this paper presents a case study of how the consumer and the DISCOs can benefit from several NEM penetration. The presented analysis and policy recommendations may help Pakistan and other countries with identical socio-demographic profiles.
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