Development work on Suki Kinari hydropower project in full swing

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The development work on 874 MW Suki Kinari hydropower project is in full swing, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Chairman, CPEC Authority, Lt Gen (rtd) Asim Saleem Bajwa tweeted on May 27.

He disclosed that 19.5 percent work on the project has been completed, adding that the work remained unaffected by coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

The hydropower projects are being built at Kunhar River in the province of Khyber Pakthtunkhwa with an investment of $ 1.963 billion under the umbrella of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). 

He added that the project has so far created 4,250 job opportunities and upon completion, it would help in reducing the cost of electricity. It’s being expected to produce electricity in a couple of years time.

“Bringing cost of electricity down is top priority of the government,” he maintained. 

It is also one of Pakistan’s largest private sector power development projects and is being constructed as part of the CPEC’s early harvest projects. 

The construction of the project was initiated in 2017, as it is being developed on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model which implies that the Chinese would operate it for 30 years after which it would be transferred to the KP government. 

Once completed, the project would add 874 megawatts to the national grid and all four units would become fully operational by 2022. The completion of this hydropower plant will play an important role in promoting Pakistan’s industrial development and economic recovery.