ISLAMABAD - Under the CPEC, Pakistan China to expedite one of the largest private sector project worth $1.9 billion, media has reported.
The Suki Kinari Hydropower Project is a run-of-the-river project which is being established alongside the Kunhar River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It is also one of Pakistan’s largest private sector power development projects and is being constructed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s “Early Harvest” projects.
Initial work regarding power generation at the Kunhar River was started in the 1960s, but little groundwork was carried. It was only in 2016 that the project was realised after the KP government signed an agreement with SK Hydro Power Ltd and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to build a dam at the site.
The total cost of the project is $1.9 billion and it is being developed on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model – which implies that the China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) would operate it for 30 years after which the project would be transferred to the KP government.
In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today, Zhang said that around 41.85pc construction work has been completed.