PESHAWAR: Provincial Energy Development Organisation (PEDO), a subsidiary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Energy Department has accelerated work on seven hydropower projects worth 230.6 megawatt to bolster power production in the province.

Official sources in PEDO told Business Recorder that the seven hydropower projects including 10.2 MW Jabori, 11.8MW Karora, 40.0MW Koto, 84MW Matlatan, 69MW Lavi, 10.5MW Charkhel and 5.6MW Baranda on completion would help arrest the menace of load shedding.

The official said work on 300MW Balakot hydel power project would be initiated this year with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank.

The World Bank, he said, would provide assistance in construction of 88MW Kabral Kalam and 157MW Madain hydel power projects. He said work on 197MW Kalam-Israit and 215 MW Israit-Kaedam hydel power projects is being started in Swat on public private partnership with assistance of the Korean Government.

To generate inexpensive electricity, he said the KP Government has introduced a unique model by establishing its own grid company for provision of electricity from new power projects.

He said Secretary Energy and Power Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah had recently visited Dubai Expo where he met with investors. He said that domestic and foreign investors showed great interest in the energy sector at Dubai Expo and agreed to invest in this sector.

The official said the provincial government was implementing investor friendly policies and providing maximum facilities to them under one window operation.

He said the energy department has become a revenue generating entity in the province by generating up to Rs6 billion revenues annually. The department would increase hydel power generation capacity from 161 MW to 212 MW that would help generate Rs10 billion annually this year, he concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022