Construction of Karot hydropower plant enters final phase

RAWALPINDI: Another project included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has entered the final phase as preparations have been completed to link the 720 MW run-of-river Karot hydropower project to the National Grid.

The Karot hydropower plant is a 720MW run-of-river project built on the Jhelum River in Rawalpindi which is being developed by Karot Power Company (KPCL), a subsidiary of the China Three Gorges South Asia Investment (CSAIL), having power generation capacity up to 3,174 GW per year.

It will generate 3,174GWh (net) of energy a year, which will be sold to the National Transmission and Despatch Company under a 30-year power purchase agreement.

The hydropower project is being constructed at the estimated cost of $1.74bn that will have a reservoir storage capacity of 164.5 million cubic metres. It is expected to create employment for 3,500 people, approximately 85 per cent comprising local citizens.

The dam is located near the villages of Karot, in Punjab, and Hollar, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), which is roughly 55km southeast of Islamabad. The dam is expected to be 95.5m-high and 460m-wide across the Jhelum River.

The project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative, which aims to build a 3,000km-long route between China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Gwadar Port.

It will also include four 316m-long headrace tunnels, a spillway, three 447m-long diversion tunnels and cofferdams upstream and downstream of the main dam.

The construction of the Karot hydropower project had been started in December 2016 with an estimated construction period of five years. It is expected to be completed by December 2021.

The Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) of Punjab and AJK had approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the run-of-river HPP in 2010 and 2011 respectively.