The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has expedited the development work on at least 16 hydropower projects which would produce 2, 131 MW electricity and generate an annual income of Rs10, 430 million for the province, said an official source.
Three short-term projects of 62.8mw would be completed soon and four medium term projects of 170.06mw will be completed by 2023 which would add 232.8mw to the national grid.
Moreover 1,899mw of long-term nine projects were in different stages and would be completed within five to 10 years.
Similarly, 10 projects of 1,870mw had been awarded to different organizations for the development under public private partnership.
According to plan, the land acquisition, feasibility study and detailed design works have been initiated on all long-term projects.
During the financial year 2019-20, the KP government had been received Rs 3,302 million revenue from the already completed seven projects of 161.2mw, while the revenue target for the current fiscal year is Rs3,700 million.
The supply of energy to industrial zones will benefit the industry by getting cheap and uninterrupted energy and this will help boost industrialization in the province and create new job opportunities.
Jabori HPP Mansehera will produce 10.2mw cheap electricity and will be completed at a cost of Rs3,798 million. This project will generate Rs669 million per year.
The second project of Karora HPP, Shangla, is near completion and will generate 11.8mw electricity. The total cost of the project is Rs4,620 million and will generate Rs814 million per annum. The third project of Koto Dir has 40.8mw capacity. —APP
