KfW Development Bank, Germany and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) inaugurated state-of-the-art Solar Energy Mini-Grids Projects completed recently in district Swabi and district Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa respectively.
The inauguration ceremonies were attended by Peace and Governance Program-KfW Frankfurt division head Michael Gruber, principal project manager Mrs. MajaBott, technical expert Thilo Heighberger, Governance and peace KfW Pakistan coordinator Shaukat Ali, PPAF general manager Nafees Ahmad Khan, senior officials and implementing partners namely National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) and Community Motivation and Development Organisation (CMDO). A large number of community members also participated in inaugurations of these solar energy mini-grids.
PPAF is implementing hydropower & renewable energy (HRE) projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the financial support of the Government of Germany through the German Development Bank (KfW). The mini-grid solar systems implemented in small villages of districts Swabi and Karak have a total capacity of 196kW and 185kW and jointly provide electricity from indigenous and clean energy resource to about 434 households within these districts. It is pertinent to mention here that 24 Solar mini-grid systems with total capacity of 119 kW in off-grid villages of Lakki Marwat have already been completed.
PPAF and KfW’s HRE project, comprising of two phases, is being implemented in 6 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa covering 8 union councils of districts including Swabi, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Buner, Upper Dir and Chitral. The project’s Phase-I initiated in 2013, and is planned to be completed in 2018. Phase-II will follow Phase-I and will span over three years. In phase-1 as many as 68Solar Mini-Grid Systems with total capacity of 500 kW are planned to be implemented in remote and off-grid locations of Karak, Swabi and Lakki Marwat districts with additional micro hydropower plants with total capacity of 803 kW to be implemented in Chitral, Upper Dir and Buner districts.
