Pakistan has signed an agreement with China Gezhouba for the construction of 700.7 MW Azad Pattan Hydropower project under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The project will be completed by 2026 with an investment of $1.5 billion. Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing witnessed the signing ceremony of the project.
Azad Pattan hydropower is a run-of-the-river project on the River Jhelum, in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The project would deliver approximately 3.3 billion units of clean, renewable energy to the grid after its completion in 2026.
The project would be located upstream of 720 MW Karot and downstream of 640 MW Mahal hydropower.
While speaking at the signing ceremony of the project Prime Minister Imran Khan said “Unlike the past, the project will not burden the people. The previous governments launched costly projects, which were made functional with imported fuel, thus increasing the cost of energy manifolds and stressing the local currency,”
CPEC Authority Chairman retired Lt-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa while addressing the signing ceremony said that the project would be completed by utilising indigenous resources. He revealed that in the near past, they had signed agreements for bringing in $4 billion investment and for generation of 1,800MW low-cost power. These projects would provide jobs to about 8,000 locals.
