ISLAMABAD: Chairman CPEC Authority Asim Saleem Bajwa has said that about 60 percent work on the Suki Kinari Hydro Power Project located in Mansehra district has been completed.
In a tweet, he said the project that is being executed under the framework of China Pakistan Economic Corridor will become operational in December next year.
After attending the Secondary River Closure ceremony of hydropower project, the CPEC Authority chairman said the total cost of the 884 MW hydro power project located at River Kunhar in Kaghan is $2 billion.
Suki Kinari (SK) Hydropower Project has achieved the second-stage river closure and has entered a new phase of its dam construction.
The project will require a cut of the Kunhar River’s main riverbed with the river being diverted to spillway is to create free-from-water working areas for construction of concrete dam of the power station under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Jia Ancheng, general manager of China Gezhouba Group Overseas Investment Co, Ltd., a subsidiary of the China Gezhouba Group Corporation which invests in and implements the project, called the closure a milestone and attributed the achievement to the joint and hard efforts made by the Chinese and Pakistani constructors despite Covid-19.
He said that his company will continue to enlarge investment in Pakistan, deepen cooperation with the local governments in the sectors of power, transportation and environmental protection, thus facilitating the common development of the two countries.
Assistant commissioner Balakot Muhammad Hamid said that the SK power project has provided some 5,000 local jobs. He said it will beautify the landscape and attract more tourists which will generate greater revenue.
With a total investment of about $1.96 billion, the project started construction in January of 2017, and is expected to be completed in December, 2022.
Once functional, the CPEC project will annually generate some 3.21 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity, replacing 1.28 million tonnes of coal and reducing 2.52 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
