First small Hydropower Project of Pakistan and AJ&K

issued Tripartite Letter of Support

Islamabad:   16 October 2019:  Today, the first private sector small hydropower Project of Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) has been issued Letter of Support under Tripartite Letter of Support (TLOS) regime of Power Generation Policy 2015 which will lead to further development of the Project. The signing ceremony was held in the PPIB Office wherein documents were signed by Mr. Shah Jahan Mirza, Managing Director PPIB on behalf of the Government of Pakistan (GoP), Mr. Naveed-ul-Zaffar Gillani, Director General Private Power Cell (PPC) of the GoAJ&K and Abdul Karim Khadim, Chief Executive Officer of Project Company i.e. Riali Hydro Power Company (Pvt) Limited while Syed M. Hussain Gardezi, Director (Development) of Riali Hydro Power Company was also present.

Riali is a first private sector High Head Run of the River small hydropower project in the country which is being developed by Sachal Engineering Works (Pvt) Limited and others on Ghori Wala Nulla, in Muzaffarbad, AJ&K with an investment of US$ 18 million and will induct approximately 38 million units of affordable power to the national grid every year. Further, the GoAJ&K will receive US$ 133,000 per annum on account of Water Use Charges. The project will be implemented on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis under the provisions of Power Generation Policy 2015 and after thirty (30) years, will be transferred to the GoAJ&K a notional price of Re. 1.  

This project fulfils the criteria as approved by the Board of PPIB for issuance of TLOS to small hydropower projects which include (i) consent of CPPA-G for power purchasing (ii) consent of NTDC/DISCOs for power evacuation, and (iii) tariff from NEPRA. The sponsors have already started construction work at site, therefore, the Project is expected to be completed by April 2021. 

This is a much awaited move of the Government in developing small hydropower projects which were issued Letter of Interest (LOI) by the Provincial / AJ&K governments but were stuck due to non-availability of GoP Guarantee, which is a historical development in the resolve of the present government for prioritizing indigenous resources particularly hydro for power generation. The Managing Director PPIB congratulated PPC, GoAJ&K project sponsors and all other stakeholders in resolving the pending issues which were hampering progress on this crucial matter of national importance. He added that Riali project being a pilot project will open doors for other small hydropower projects in the private sector.