In yet another significant development for harnessing the indigenous water resources for electricity generation, two MoUs were signed on Monday among Khyber PakhtunKhwa (KP) government, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and Korean firms to develop two hydropower projects in public private partnership (PPP) mode with cumulative power generation capacity of 1161megawatts.
This milestone has been achieved as a result of the recent visit of the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari to Korea. The first MoU was signed with Korea Midland Power Company (KOMIPO) for the 496 MW-Lower Spat Gah Hydropower Project, while the second with K-Water/Daewoo consortium for the 665 MW-Lower Palas Valley Hydropower Project. Wapda Chairman Raghib Shah, KP Shydo Managing Director Bahadur Shah, KOMIPO Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Choi Rak and K-Water representative in Pakistan No Hyuk Park signed the MoU on behalf of their organisations. Korean Ambassador to Pakistan Choong Joo Choi was also present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, the ambassador termed signing of the MoU to bring the two countries closer in the vital sector of hydropower. He appreciated Wapda Chairman's efforts for this achievement.
Speaking on the occasion, Wapda Chairman said that the Korean firms, selected through international competitive biddings, will together bring in with them an investment of more than US $2 billion for construction of Lower Spat Gah and Lower Palas Valley hydropower projects. This investment shows the confidence, the international financial institutions have in Wapda for implementation of the projects in water and hydropower sectors, he added.
Shah further said that the two projects will contribute more than 4.5 billion units of electricity to the National Grid annually. Wapda Chairman said that the two projects are a part of the strategy for optimum utilisation of the water resources to help overcome electricity shortage and stabilise power tariff for the consumers. Dilating upon the efforts for developing water resources, he added that Wapda is implementing more than 20 projects to generate about 20,000MW of electricity and store 12 million acre feet of water.
It is pertinent to mention that Lower Spat Gah Hydropower Project is located on left bank tributary of River Indus with its confluence some 8 kilometers downstream of Dasu town in district Kohistan of Khyber Pakhatunkhwa province, while Lower Palas Valley Hydropower Project is also located on another left bank tributary of River Indus with its confluence some 12 kilometres upstream of Patan town in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhatunkhwa province.