Visiting the Ghazi Barotha Hydropower Project (GBHP) on Friday, Niebel said that alternate energy, particularly hydropower, is the future resource of energy.
A delegation including the German Ambassador to Pakistan Michael Koch, KFW Director in Islamabad Dr Anna Christine and other technical experts accompanied him during the visit.
Referring to the support Germany has provided to Pakistan for building mega projects including the GBHP, he assured the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) of assistance in developing a power generation system in future as well.
Wapda Chairman Shakil Durrani, in his welcome address, said that the 1,450-megawatt GBHP is one of the engineering marvels and has earned recognition the world over for a number of technical and environmental innovations.
He said that Wapda greatly values the German assistance for the power sector in Pakistan and expressed the hope that this support would also continue in the days to come.
Durrani told the delegation that hydropower potential in Pakistan has recently been upgraded to 100,000MW.
Durrani said that these hydropower projects provide excellent opportunities to foreign as well as local investors for their high rate of returns.
The delegation was briefed that the GBHP contributes 6.6 billion units of low-cost electricity to the national grid. It was further told that the project has generated 44 billion units of electricity since its commissioning in August 2003.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 5th, 2010.
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