One-fifty (150) MW Patrind Hydropower Project, run-of-the-river project and a joint venture of K-Water, Daewoo Corporation and Sambu, Korea is likely to achieve Commercial Operation Date (COD) in a couple of months. Patrind is a village near Muzaffarabad, wherein the project is being set up at river Jhelum by using the water of river Kunhar through a 2.2 kilometers long tunnel of 7 diameters. The height of the concrete gravity dam will be 42 meters.
Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) Contractors of Daewoo Corporation and Sambu Construction Company, Korea are actively engaged in initial work on the project site which will be completed on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BBOT) basis. Operation period of the project will be 30 years. The project's annual power generation will be 630 GWh per annum.
"As we achieve COD, we will get Notice to Proceed (NTP) after which the project will commence to be completed in four years," said Young Sik Ko, Site Manager in a briefing to a group of visiting journalists. Korean embassy's Second Secretary, Park Jae Woo, took the journalists to the sites of Patrind Hydropower Project and 84 MW New Bong Escape Hydropower Project, Mangla to show how Koreans are engaged in development of hydropower projects in Pakistan to ease power shortage.
Total budget of the project is $361 million whereas the construction cost is estimated to be $290 million. KEXIM, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are the lenders of the project.
According to an official statement, ADB will provide $97 million to fund a new private sector hydroelectricity plant to ease power shortages as well as create new job opportunities in the country. Site manager of the projects told visiting journalists that at least 1300 people will get jobs after the Patrind Hydropower Project starts operation.
83 MW New Bong Escape Hydropower Project, which is a project of Laraib Energy Limited, is being established at Mangla dam (near Mirpur) by using the water of river Jhelum with an investment of $154,300,000. New Bong Escape Hydropower complex is being constructed by EPC contractors of Sambu Construction Company, Korea. The project which started from December 28, 2009 is expected to be completed by December 31, 2012.
The project involves construction of a run-of-the-river, low head, 84MW hydel power generating complex. It is located at the New Bong escape, some 7.5 kms downstream of the existing Mangla Dam (which was completed in 1967), on the Jhelum River, in AJK. The project site is some 120 kms from Islamabad. It will be fed by water originating from the Mangla reservoir, which is released, through the Mangla powerhouse (1,000 MW), into the Bong Canal. There is no new reservoir or other water storage envisaged for the project.
Increase in project cost from the estimated $149.2 million in 2005 to the current $217 million was brought about by significant price increase of key inputs in the international market and deteriorating macroeconomic condition. In 2008, 75.5% of the company's shares were transferred to a majority shareholder due to the exit of the shareholder in 2007 that shifted its investment focus out of the region. The EPC contractor was also replaced through ICB. The amended financing documents to accommodate new lenders and new sponsors were signed on November 2009.
According to a representative of Laraib Energy Limited, Javed Rashid New Bong Escape Hydropower Project is at least 5 months ahead of its schedule, adding that first unit is expected to start generation in August or September this year. Yearly gross generation will be 540 GWh. New Bong Escape power Project's tariff will be 8.5256 cents per unit.
Comments
Comments are closed.