Around 95% work on Karot hydropower project completed

ISLAMABAD: The Karot hydropower project will start its commercial operations by the first half of 2022, as around 95 per cent work of the project had been completed, according to official sources in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority.

Recently, the Karot hydropower project, which is a major project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, successfully closed the gates of the diversion tunnels, starting reservoir impoundment.

The project has been invested by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) with a total value of around $1.74 billion.

The Karot hydropower project in Punjab is the fourth level of the five cascade hydropower stations planned for the River Jhelum.

The beginning of the reservoir impoundment of the first CPEC hydropower project is a milestone and will pave the way for the wet testing of the generator units.

Since the groundbreaking of the project in April 2015, the Chinese and Pakistani engineers and workers at the project have jointly overcome different challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic; thus, a series of achievements have been made such as the river closure and lifting of the first rotor.

The sources said the start of reservoir impoundment is hard-earned fruit by the mutual support between the Pakistani and Chinese workers.

The forthcoming commercial operation of the hydropower station project, which has provided over 4,000 jobs for the locals during the peak time of its constriction, will further address the electricity shortage issues in Pakistan with cheap and clean energy and improve the energy structure of the country.

The 720MW Karot hydropower project is expected to annually generate some 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity once put into operation, reducing 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions/annum.

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