Korean firms to invest $2b in hydropower projects

MoU signed for two projects with capacity of 1,161 megawatts.

LAHORE: In yet another significant development to tap water resources for electricity production, two memoranda of understanding (MoU) were signed on Monday among the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and South Korean companies.

Under the agreements, the three stakeholders will join hands in developing two hydropower projects based on public-private partnership model. Cumulative power generation capacity of the projects will be 1,161 megawatts.

The first MoU was signed with Korea Midland Power Company (KOMIPO) for the 496MW Lower Spat Gah hydropower project, while the second agreement was with K-Water/Daewoo consortium for the 665MW Lower Palas Valley hydropower project.

Korean Ambassador to Pakistan Choong Joo Choi, who was present at the ceremony, termed the agreements a milestone that would bring the two countries closer through vital hydropower projects.

Wapda Chairman Raghib Shah said the Korean firms, selected through international competitive bidding, would make an investment of more than $2 billion in construction of the power projects. “This investment reflects the confidence international institutions have in Wapda in executing water and power projects,” he added.

Shah said the two projects would contribute more than 4.5 billion units of electricity to the national grid annually.

According to Shah, these projects are part of a strategy to utilise optimally the water resources of the country in an attempt to tackle electricity shortage and stabilise power tariff for consumers.

Highlighting efforts being made to tap water resources, he said Wapda was implementing more than 20 projects to generate about 20,000MW of electricity and store 12 million acre feet of water.

Lower Spat Gah project is located on left bank tributary of Indus River with its confluence some eight kilometres downstream of Dasu town in Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Lower Palas Valley project is located on another left bank tributary of Indus River with its confluence some 12 kilometres upstream of Patan town in Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2012.