PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Saturday directed the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo) to complete arrangements for the groundbreaking of Balakot hydropower project by March this year.

A statement issued here said that while chairing the Pedo board meeting; Mr Khan said that Prime Minister Imran khan was likely to perform the groundbreaking of the 300MW project.

It said the meeting gave go-ahead to Pedo to award contract to the winning construction companies for construction of the said project.

The meeting also reviewed the progress made on implementation of the decisions taken in the last meeting of the policy board. It was informed that the 300MW Balakot hydropower project was a run-of-the-river project located on Kunhar River, which would be built at the cost of $750 million.

The meeting was informed that the bidding process and hiring of contractors for construction of the project had been completed and for this purpose a joint venture of two construction companies had been formed.

It approved the joint venture of two construction companies and allowed Pedo to proceed with the process and sign the contract with the joint venture.

The project will be executed in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and preparations are underway to lay its foundation stone in March this year.

The chief minister termed it a very important project of energy sector in the province and directed the relevant authorities to complete the arrangements on fast track to ensure its groundbreaking in March.

He said on completion the project would prove to be milestone in meeting the energy needs of the province.

The meeting also approved a social enterprise model for operation and management of micro hydropower projects with a generating capacity of 100kW and above.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2021