IHA ranks Pakistan 3rd in world

LAHORE: The International Hydropower Association (IHA) has ranked Pakistan 3rd in the world for newly installed hydropower capacity, a statement said on Tuesday.

IHA in its 2019 Hydropower Status Report offered insights and trends in the sector. Formed under the auspices of UNESCO in 1995 as a forum to promote and disseminate good practice about hydropower, IHA champions continuous improvement and sustainable practices across the sector.

Listing down top 20 countries by newly installed capacity, the IHA states in its report that Pakistan managed to add 2,487MW of environment-friendly hydropower in 2018 following China and Brazil at the first and second rung that added 8,540MW and 3,866MW to their systems respectively.

Turkey with an addition of 1,085MW and Angola with an addition of 668MW remained at 4th and 5th positions, respectively, as far as newly installed hydro capacity was concerned.

Neighbouring India stood at the 8th position. It succeeded in adding 535MW of hydropower to its system recently.

As far as recent addition of hydropower in Pakistan was concerned, Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) steadfastly moved ahead during the year 2018 to regain glory of its past, as it successfully completed and commissioned three long-delayed mega hydropower projects with cumulative generation capacity of 2,487MW.