It was revealed on Tuesday that the Dasu Hydropower Project (DHP) in the Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has received $1 billion in additional funding from the World Bank.
The global bank said in a news release late last night that “the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved $1 billion in a second round of additional financing for the Dasu Hydropower Stage I (DHP I) Project.”
It emphasized that “this financing will support the expansion of hydropower electricity supply, improve local communities’ access to socio-economic services, and increase the Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) capacity to prepare future hydropower projects.”
According to the statement, Pakistan’s energy industry faces numerous obstacles in its quest for sustainable, cheap, and dependable energy. Najy Benhassine, the Country Director of the World Bank for Pakistan, was quoted in this regard.
Benhassine declared that the Dasu project site is “one of the best hydropower sites in the world and a game changer for the Pakistan energy sector” and that “the DHP will contribute to ‘greening’ the energy sector and lowering the cost of electricity with a very small footprint.”
In the meantime, DHP-I was emphasized as a “crucial project in Pakistan’s efforts to reverse its dependence on fossil fuels and reach 60 per cent renewable energy by 2031” by task team leader Rikard Liden.
“By substituting imported fuels, the second additional financing will enable Pakistan to save an estimated $1.8 billion annually and offset approximately 5 million tons of carbon dioxide,” Liden was cited in the statement as adding.
The project manager said, “The annual economic return of DHP-I is estimated to be around 28pc.”
The World Bank estimates that the Dasu project will have an installed capacity of 4,320–5,400 megawatts (MW) when it is finished.
“The project is being developed gradually. With a 2,160MW capacity, DHP-I will produce 12,225 gigawatt hours (GWh) of affordable renewable energy annually. According to the announcement, the DHP-II will add 9,260–11,400 GWh annually from the same dam.
The World Bank noted that “through this project, adult literacy has increased by an estimated 30 percent since 2012, boys’ schooling has increased by 16 percent, and girls’ schooling has increased by 70 percent during this period.”
The statement went on, “The additional funding will further support ongoing socio-economic initiatives in Upper Kohistan, particularly in the areas of employment, transportation, health, and education.”
