Pakistan to get €120m French soft loan for hydropower project

ISLAMABAD: France will provide a €120 million soft loan for the 128-Megawatt Keyal Khuwar hydropower project.

According to an announcement by the Economic Affairs Division, Kazim Niaz, Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA), and Mr. Philippe Steinmetz, Country Director, French Agency for Development (AFD), signed the agreement.

The French loan assistance will support the 128MW facility, located in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), near Pattan. This soft loan will support the Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in its mandate of hydroelectricity sector development in Pakistan, the statement added.

The funding will also help enhance the competitiveness of renewable power generation thus promoting affordability and scaling up the energy supply. These will be achieved while also mitigating the impacts of power generation on climate and environment, in line with the policies of the government of Pakistan, it said.

The project will contribute to the government of Pakistan’s strategy to develop green energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and climate-friendly projects, in line with the French pledge and commitments announced at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, which took place in Geneva on January 9, 2023.

The statement added, the Republic of France through the French Agency for Development is working in Pakistan providing technical and financial support in the energy and urban development sector aiming at green investment in Pakistan.