More Than 250 Hydropower Projects Have Started Supplying Power in KP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Power and Energy Department has said that over 250 mini-macro hydropower plants (MMHPPs) have started supplying power to the province. An official of the Energy Department told the Associated Press Pakistan (APP) that a total of 312 MMHPPs have been completed across the province, while 16 are under construction. He said that 268 power projects, including 47 in Chitral, 32 in Upper Dir, three in Lower Dir, 12 in Abbottabad, 50 in Batagram, 14 in Manshera, 15 in Buner, eight in Torghar, 36 in Swat, 23 in Shangla, and 28 in Kohistan, have started producing 32 MW electricity, which is enough to benefit over 120,000 households in the upper parts of the province. The official added: The provincial government has decided to build 672 MMHPPs worth about Rs. 12 billion with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the Prime Minister’s Access to Clean Energy Investment Program (PM ACENIP). The official said that the DaralKhwar hydropower project in Madain, Swat, has also been completed and that the project is generating 36.6 MW with an annual economic benefit of over Rs. 1.3 billion. He added that the groundbreaking ceremony of another 300 MW Balakot hydropower plant is upcoming. The project has been approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and will be built at an estimated cost of Rs. 85 billion on River Kunhar in Mansehra with the assistance of the ADB. The official said: The provincial government has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a South Korean company to construct a 496 MW Spat-Gah hydropower plant amounting to $1,015 million.