The 884 MW Suki Kinari Hydropower Project, being constructed with the US $ 1.9 billion costs under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), would be operational by 2022.
According to the schedule, the Suki Kinari hydropower plant is expected to be completed by the end of next year, an official source told APP. The run-of-the-river project was being established alongside the Kunhar River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It was also one of Pakistan’s largest private sector power development projects and was being constructed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s `Early Harvest’ projects, he said.
The project was being developed on the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model – which implied that the Chinese Company would operate it for 30 years after which the project would be transferred to the KP government.
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Once completed, the project would add 884 megawatts to the national grid and all four units would become fully operational by 2022, he informed.
The completion of this hydropower plant would play an important role in promoting Pakistan’s industrial development and economic recovery.
Suki Kinari Hydropower Project -884MW
Project Cost: $1.9 billion
Completion Date: December 2022 pic.twitter.com/UYLDwoHar0
— Ahmed Janjua (@AhmedWJanjua) October 15, 2021
The Decade of Dams
By calling this decade the “decade of dams,” the PTI government is according top priority to building more dams to not only improve the share of hydropower in the energy mix but also help secure more water for the agriculture sector.
According to the government, Pakistan’s potential for clean, affordable, reliable, and indigenous hydropower stood at 64,000 megawatts. At present, hydropower projects possessing the capacity of only 9,900MW were in operation, which was just 29% of the current energy mix.
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Moreover, the government also approved the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2021-2030. Under the plan, the share of hydropower in the national energy mix would be increased from 29% to 43% (ie from 9,900MW to 23,000MW) till 2030 by involving both public and private sectors.
Courtesy: APP with additional input by GVS