High returns expected from Suki Kinari Hydropower project

Agreement signed with private company for the initiative

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government signed the Water Use Direct Agreement for Suki Kinari, an 870-megawatt hydropower project.

The project has been awarded to a private company, Suki Kinari Hydro Private Limited. Its chief executive, Haseeb Khan, and K-P Energy and Power Secretary Naeem Khan signed the agreement in the city. Energy department officials said under the accord, the K-P government will get around Rs2 billion per annum as water use charges from the project. This amount would be given to the provincial government without it making any investment when the power generation starts.



While talking to the media on Wednesday, the Minister for Energy Atif Khan said it was a large project in the hydropower sector and has been approved in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It would not only generate revenue for K-P, but will also help overcame the ongoing electricity crisis in the country.

“Such huge projects have not been initiated in our province for quite some time, despite K-P having huge potential for generating cheap hydroelectricity,” he said. “Work has already been started on the projects and engineers are working on the site.”

Atif added the Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (ICBC) Limited was working as lender with Suki Kinari Hydro Private Limited.



According to Atif, the project would be handed over to the K-P government after 30 years, without any charges.

To a question regarding delay in completion of hydropower projects, he said these initiatives consume more time than projects of any other sector. “But it is a one-time investment and the projects are eco-friendly as compared to coal power plants.”  Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization CEO Akbar Ayub, Energy and Power Chief Planning Officer Syed Zainullah Shah and officials of ICBC Limited attended the agreement signing ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2016.