Imparting skills: Technicians to be trained for hydropower plants

Umerzai says it will also help find solutions to energy crisis through the alternative sources of renewable energy

PESHAWAR:

The lack of trained technicians at micro hydropower plants in K-P is reducing the efficiency and lifespan of plants.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) introduced a training scheme so rivers in Swat could be used for producing electricity. TEVTA K-P Chairman Arshad Alamzeb Umerzai was quoted as saying the youth in areas with micro hydropower plants will be able to get jobs there, with the introduction of the training programme.

“It will also help the country find solutions to energy crisis through the alternative sources of renewable energy.” Umerzai added K-P was blessed with flowing water, which has the capacity to produce 40,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power.

Step by step

The programme started last week and saw an overwhelming response as 67 candidates applied for the course and 20 were selected for the course.

There are four levels in which people would be trained to contribute to the plants; from being helpers to designers.

Currently, students are enrolled in the first level of the training. Once the training is successful, the same programme will be replicated in other districts where the potential for micro hydropower plants exists.

However, each power plant would require a sound operating system and maintenance.

Arrangements

A sample micro hydropower plant has been imported from Indonesia to provide job-specific training to those enrolled. Four teachers have been given extensive training on the imported plant in Indonesia with the support of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Reform Support Programme.

The training scheme is supported by TVETA Reform Support Programme which is funded by the European Union, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Federal Republic of Germany and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2016.