The gigantic energy developments implemented by Chinese firms not only ended power outages in Pakistan but also introduced innovative technologies in the country’s power sector.
As per a Gwadar Pro report released on Tuesday, these contain the subversive hydropower projects in addition to the ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants.
China Gezhouba Group Corp. (CGGC) in 2018, accomplished the production of the first-ever underground powerhouse in Pakistan, the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
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Meanwhile, the 969-megawatt run-of-river plan was a production trial owing to fissures and tunnels in the not-so-solid and ever vigorous Himalayan mountains range.
After 10 years of extraordinary engineering efforts, the project was finished in the hardest geological and geotechnical environments, as per a joint survey study of Hanyang University, Korea, and five Pakistani universities.
Additionally, the CGGC is constructing the 884 MW Suki Kinari hydropower project under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, including the same engineering design. CGGC has also made an agreement with the KP government for building the 300 MW Balakot HPP with the same design.
In this regard, a senior officer of KP’s energy development arm, PEDO, told Gwadar Pro, “The power sector project will provide us with a chance to work on tunnel excavation and installation of underground power plants, as earlier such projects were at the federal government level to which we had no exposure.”
Moreover, China Three Gorges Corp. (CTGC) has also constructed a related hydropower skill in the Karot area of Punjab province. The project of 720 MW is approaching achievement and is anticipated to begin commercial actions in mid-2022.
In addition, three such projects in North Pakistan are at several phases of operation. Meanwhile, in the coal energy zone, Shanghai Electric Group is constructing a 1,320 MW ultra-supercritical power plant in the Tharparkar area of Sindh province.
“The project will utilize the indigenous Thar coal and produce low-cost energy with lesser or no environmental hazards,” an authorized person of the Thar Coal Block 1 Power Generation Co. told Gwadar Pro.
