Pak-French hydropower project inaugurated in KPK
Jabban Hydropower Project is located on Swat canal in Malakand Division.
PESHAWAR (Online) - Pak-French Hydropower Project the Jabban Hydropower plant in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK) was inaugurated here on Wednesday.
Anwar Ahmad Khan, Secretary Ministry Water & Power, Philippe Thiébaud, Ambassador of France and Grégory Clémente, Vice-President Asia of French Development Agency (AFD), inaugurated the Jabban Hydropower plant.
Jabban Hydropower Project is located on Swat canal in Malakand Division. This run-of-river hydropower plant was built in 1937, and as such it is the oldest large hydropower plant in Pakistan. It discontinued its production after a fire broke out in November 2006.
The infrastructure was rehabilitated and the capacity increased from 19 MW up to 22 MW. After rehabilitation, the plant will employ 50 workers, and will provide electricity to more than 240,000 people. The total cost of the project was estimated at Rs 3.4 billion.
In July 2009, AFD signed with government of Pakistan a soft loan of 26.5 million Euro, out of which 25million Euro is allocated for the Jabban Project, and 1.5 million Euro for building capacities on the hydropower sector. This loan is being implemented by WAPDA, AFD’s main partner in the country.
AFD has already committed funding for the studies of the multipurpose Mohmand / Munda dam project, as well as for the construction of the Jaggran-II and Harpo hydropower projects. In addition, AFD has a portfolio of identified hydel projects under study, for a total capacity of more than 1,100 MW.
