PEDO, ADB ink agreement for 300 MW

hydropower project
April 24, 2018 BY Online

PESHAWAR: Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (PEDO) has entered into an

agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADP) for financing the construction of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) biggest ever 300 megawatts (MW) hydropower project at a cost of US $ 645
million on Kunhar River near Balakot area of Mansehra.

KP Secretary Finance Shakeel Qadir Khan signed the agreement with ADP in the presence of KP
Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak and Provincial Minister for Energy and Power Muhammad Atif,
PEDO Chief Planning Officer Syed Zainullah Shah and other high-ranking officers.

The dam site on Kunhar River is at a distance of about three kilometres downstream from Paras
village and 17 kilometres upstream of Balakot’s main bridge. The powerhouse would be located on the
left bank of Sangarh nullah confluence with Kunhar River, one kilometre upstream of Dabrain village
and eight kilometres upstream of Balakot’s main bridge.

The project would be constructed in an environment-friendly way and would not displace the local
population, thus contributing a lot to the national energy production at no cost at all. The project
would also add over Rs eight billion per annum to the resources of the province. The investment on
the project also promised more than 17 per cent return per year.

The PC-1 of the project had already been prepared and would be approved by the Provincial
Development Party this week and sent to the Central Development Working Party i.e. the federal
government. The ADB had already arranged funds for the project, which would be released in a timely
manner (approximately 60 months).

Speaking on the occasion, Pervez Khattak regretted that on the one hand there was a shortage of
electricity in the country while on the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rich energy resources,
particularly environment-friendly low-cost hydel power, were not being utilised by the federal
government.

He said that instead of helping the province tap into these resources, the federal government was
importing costly LNG. He also regretted that the federal government was neither finalising a purchase
agreement regarding the 74 MW hydel power generated in the province to add it to the national grid
nor was it paying the price of the electricity generated by KP.

According to a conservative estimate, the province has the capacity to produce 15,000 MW of cheap
and environment-friendly hydel power but the federal government was least interested in its
development.

Khattak pointed out that the KP government had started work on 2,500 MW hydel power generation
from its own meager resources by signing an agreement for 668 MW with the private sector. The
province also signed agreements with Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) for the generation of 506
MW energy while another agreement was signed with China for a 610 MW power project.

The chief minister also said that neither the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) nor
the federal government were interested in the capacity building of transmission lines in the smaller
provinces, due to which the electricity produced on the provincial level could not be transmitted to the
national grid.
Feasibility Study of 300 MW Balakot Hydropower Project

Narrative Description of Project:

The Balakot HPP is proposed to be located on Kunhar River, which is the right bank tributary of
Jhelum River and joins the Jhelum River 12 km downstream of Muzaffarabad city. The dam site on
Kunhar River is about 03 km d/s of Paras village, and 17 km u/s of Balakot town main bridge. The
powerhouse is to be located on the left bank of Sangarh nullah confluence with Kunhar River, 1 km
upstream of Dabrain village and 8 km upstream of Balakot main bridge. 78 m high concrete gravity
dam with live storage of 12.606 MCM, Crest Length - 250m, headrace tunnel is 8420 m on the left
bank with inner 8 m dia fully lined. Powerhouse underground, Francis units, 4x79 MW, with installed
capacity of 300 MW.

Description of Actual Services Provided by the Firm :

The services provided by our firm are briefly stated below:

 Collection of existing available data and information including satellite images, etc.
 Topographic survey and mapping of the Project Area; different components of the
Project; and river cross sections at specified scales.
 Establishing permanent hydro-met. Stations at appropriate sites; installing stage gauges
at selected cross-sections of the rivers; and development of tail-water rating curves.
 Geological and geotechnical investigations including: Surface investigations and
geological mapping; geophysical survey; sub-surface investigations; seismic hazard
analysis; field and laboratory testing of samples.
 Transmission line survey and 132 kV substation design.
 Power system and load flow studies.
 Road and infrastructure survey.
 Environmental survey and data collection.
 Hydraulic studies.
 Engineering studies for: Power generation and transmission; hydrology and
sedimentation; geology and geotechnical; seismic risk analysis; alternative project
layouts; optimization of layout plan; project sizing; design of structures and
powerhouse; etc.
 Environmental studies in accordance with recommendations of ADB, including
preparation of reports for: Initial environmental examination (IEE); and if required,
environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental management plan (EMP) to
implement recommended mitigation measures.
 Project implementation and construction planning schedule including contract
packaging.
 Preparation of detailed cost estimates.
 List of PEDO Feasibility Study Projects in Public Sector hide

Name of Potential Cost (Rs. Target Feasibility Completion Target Project

Sr.#. Name of Project Location
River (MW) Million) date Completion date
1 Balakot HPP Kunhar Village Dariveshan-Balakot, Mansehra 300 68528.0 Completed 2021-22
2 Naran HPP Kunhar Village Paludran Naran, District Mansehra 188 43991.0 Completed 2021-22
3 Bata Kundi HPP Kunhar Village Upper Naran Valley, Mansehra 105 36750.0 Completed 2021-22
4 Barikot Patrak HPP Panjkora Village Barikot-Patrak, District Dir 47 14778.00 Completed 2019-20
5 Patrak Shringal HPP Panjkora Village Patrak Shringal, District Dir 22 8276.00 Completed 2019-20
6 Shigo Kach HPP Panjkora Village Shigo Kach, District Dir 102 32000.00 Completed 2019-20
Ghorband
7 Ghor Band HPP Village Jabba-Karora, District Shangla 20.8 7422.00 Completed 2019-20
Khwar

8 Nandihar HPP As above Village Batle-Batamori, District Batagram 12.3 5039.0 completed 2019-20

9 Arkari Gol HPP Arkari Gol Village Momi-Shaghore, District Chitral 99 18258.0 completed 2019-20
10 Mujigram Shoghore HPP Luthkho Village Mujigram Shaghore, District Chitral 64 18211.0 Completed 2021-22
11 Istaru-Booni HPP Turkho Village Istaru-Booni, District Chitral 72 27566.0 Completed 2021-22
12 Gahrit-Swir Lasht HPP Chitral Village Gahrit,District Chitral 377 181116.0 Completed 2020-21
13 Booni-Zaith HPP Mastuj Village Zaith, District Chitral 350 75250.0 Completed 2020-21

14 Jamshill More Lasht HPP Mastuj Village Lasht, District Chitral 260 61620.0 Completed 2020-21

15 Laspur Marigram HPP Mastuj Village Laspur-Miragram, District Chitral 230 55200.0 Completed 2020-21
Total MW 2249 654000 1322 227087