Six hydropower projects to be initiated by 2010: The News

Friday, October 31, 2008
By our correspondent

LAHORE: In addition to initiating construction work on the 4,500 MW Diamer-Basha Dam Project next year, another half dozen mega hydropower projects including Kohala, Dasu, Bunji, Munda, Palas Valley would be undertaken in 2010-12.

This was stated by WAPDA Chairman Shakil Durrani during a briefing here at WAPDA House today arranged for a delegation of the 89th Management Course of National School of Public Policy, Lahore led by its Rector Lt. Gen. (R) Javed Hassan. These projects would generate about 21,000 MW of electricity on their completion and help improve low-cost hydropower proportion in the national grid.

The delegation was briefed that Pakistan has been blessed with the identified hydropower potential of more than 54,000 MW but only 16 per cent of this potential has so far been taped due to variety of reasons.

After its bifurcation last year, WAPDA is fully focused on water and hydropower development. The work on 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydroelectric Project has already started, while feasibility studies and detailed engineering designs of most of the mega projects in both water and power sectors are currently at the advance stages and likely to be completed by the next year,

The delegation was informed that Pakistan is storing only 11 per cent of the annual water flows of its rivers and, if this capacity is not increased, Pakistan will be a water short country by 2012. The delegation was told that the accumulative gross storage capacity of Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma reservoirs that originally used to be 18.37 million acre feet (MAF), has reduced to 13.24 MAF due to sedimentation, resulting in 28 per cent loss of storage capacity.

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Chinese firm to construct 1,100MW power project: The News

Friday, October 10, 2008By our correspondent

ISLAMABAD: In a positive development, Sinohydro Corporation of China is to invest in 1,100MW Kohala hydropower project.Top officials of the company came up with the offer on Thursday in a meeting with the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf. The minister said that government would facilitate foreign investors to invest in the water and power sector in Pakistan as there are great opportunities. He said that foreign investment in hydel power generation would help to meet the country’s future power requirements at affordable prices.Ashraf also informed the delegation that Pakistan was embarking on the construction of multipurpose dams which would meet power needs in the long term. Earlier, the Chinese company gave a detailed presentation to the minister on its ongoing projects and briefed him on the expertise in construction of hydropower projects. The firm expressed interest in investing millions of dollars in Pakistan by constructing 1,100MW Kohala hydropower project.They also informed that the company is working on 156 hydropower projects in various countries of the world. The company is already constructing Gomal Zam dam, Khan Khawar hydropower project and Dubair Khawar hydropower project in Pakistan.

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