Sindh’s first run-of-the-river power plant seeks generation licence

KARACHI: Nara Hydropower (Pvt) Ltd has sought a generation licence for a 13.65MW run-of-the-river power plant being setup to exploit the so far untapped potential of hydropower in Sindh, an official document revealed on Tuesday.

To harness electricity from cleaner, renewable energy sources, the project is being setup with a cost of $55.59 million and is expected to achieve the financial close by June 2018 with expected commissioning in March 2021.

Currently, there is not a single run-of-the-river hydropower plant in operation in the province. Numerous sites have been identified for establishing small, mini and micro power stations on various perennial canals, lakes and falls, it said.

Sukkur Barrage is used to control water flow in the River Indus for the purposes of irrigation and flood control.

The barrage controls the flow to a major network of canals on both the banks of the Indus. The largest of the left bank canals are the Rohri and the Nara canals.

The project intends to exploit the power potential of the irrigation system, which supply demand areas downstream from the left bank of the River Indus.

Pakistan is one of those countries of the world that are blessed with huge hydropower potential. The geographic layout of the country, the natural water flow systems and irrigation system in the country manifest hydropower potential that can be harnessed to meet increasing energy needs of the country, it added.

Besides large hydro, there are definite prospects of development of small-mini-micro hydropower. Small hydropower is considered as one of the lucrative options for electricity generation.

According to Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB), at present 128MW

is operational in the country, 877MW is under implementation and around 1,500MW is available for development.