Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash in a letter to Secretary Power, Syed Asif Hyder Shah has requested that at least 3000MW of hydropower electricity block be granted to KP for the next Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan.
In the letter he highlighted the face that the province of KP has a huge potential of generating clean and green electricity through hydel projects provided that such projects are initiated on a timely basis.
In the letter he emphasized the fact that the most appropriate time for initiating hydropower development is when there is no immediate need for adding capacity such as now. This is because it takes about 7 to 8 years for a hydel project to come online, and if we wait for the next period of capacity shortage, the only alternative left would be to install short-term thermal, and we would be stuck in the same electricity shortage /surplus cycle,” he continued.
The long-term solution to Pakistan’s energy crises is indigenously produced source, such as hydropower which is not only indigenously produced, but unlike all other forms of energy its cost continues to fall through its life cycle. A hydropower project had a life of over 80 years, and if properly maintained its life could go up to 100 years. These project provide the cleanest form of energy in the world.
