Progress on 470mw Spat Gah power project reviewed

PESHAWAR: The Lower Spat Gah Hydropower project would produce 470 megawatts electricity and generate Rs3 billion income upon completion, a meeting was told on Thursday.

Officials said the project, the largest hydropower project in the recent history of the province, would be completed in 5 years.

Secretary Energy and Power, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Zubair Khan, representatives of Korean Hydro and Nuclear Power Company attended the meeting to review the progress on the 470mw Lower Spat Gah Power project in Kohistan district. The project is being built with the cooperation of KHNP, a state-owned company working in the energy sector of South Korea, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. Additional Secretary Power Abdul Haseeb, Senior Chief Planning Officer Shah Nawaz Khan, Chief Engineer Khuram Durrani, Senior Planning Officer Luqman Hakeem and Planning Officer Muhammad Waqqas Ahmad were also present on the occasion.

The problems faced at the federal level with NEPRA including IGCEP plan and NTDC were discussed. Similarly, obstacles in issuing generation licenses for the project and other problems were discussed with the federal government. Various options were also discussed to be taken up at the provincial level.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Energy and Power, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Zubair Khan declared the foreign investment as a milestone in the coming days for the development of the energy sector in the province. He said that natural resources of hydropower in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were a valuable treasure here.

“The utilisation of natural resources will not only save the country from the current energy crisis but the province will also get billions of rupees annually from energy projects,” he said, adding, efforts would be made to remove all obstacles to the early completion of the project.