Chinese power tech helps alleviate poverty

A programme named "China-Pakistan Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Small Hydropower Technology: Collaborative Efforts to Alleviate Poverty in Pakistan" of China's Ministry of Water Resources and the National Research Institute for Rural Electrification recently won the Best Poverty Reduction Practice Award at the 2024 International Seminar on Global Poverty Reduction Partnerships in Beijing.

Though boasting an abundance of hydroelectric power resources, Pakistan is still facing issues such as power shortage and unstable grids because of the lack of advanced technology for resource development and equipment manufacturing.

Inaugurated in 2015, the China-Pakistan Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Small Hydropower Technology has been easing local power shortage in Pakistan to improve people's livelihood and drive rural economic development through joint research, technology demonstration, application promotion and talent cultivation, achieving progress towards economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Until now, the lab has provided assessment technologies for Pakistan's hydropower resources, top-level design methods for regional power systems and development plans for hydropower in the typical rivers of Punjab.

It has completed the proposal for Pakistan's small hydropower standard system and structural framework, and developed intelligent small hydropower control equipment, China Economic Net reported on Friday.

Furthermore, demonstration sites for off-grid multi-energy complementary power generation and database for small hydropower projects and rural electrification in South Asia have been established.

Additionally, seven Pakistani scientists have come to China to undertake research and 30 South Asian technicians of small hydropower and rural electrification projects have been trained in the lab.