#Author:Er Arun Tamang, Eleotronices Engieering NIT Sikkim India https://nitsikkim.ac.in/
Hydropower is a cheap, clean, and renewable source of electricity. The conventional fossil fuel-based power plants only have an efficiency of 50%, while the efficiency of modern hydropower plants is about 85%. Moreover, depending on the head and water flow rate, hydropower can be harnessed both on a large and small scale for power generation purposes. Therefore, hydropower is the most significant RER in the world. Pakistan is facing the challenge of increasing electricity demand being a growing economy, which cannot be fulfilled from its currently installed power generation capacity. The reported electricity shortfall during peak load hours is more than 5000 MW. As a result, load shedding is the only option to meet the demand. In the past, the growth and development of Pakistan suffered from energy side bottlenecks. Fossil fuel-based resources, including oil and natural gas, dominate the power sector of Pakistan, but the country possesses minimal indigenous fossil fuel reserves. Therefore, the demands of these fuels are met through the import of hydrocarbons, making the electricity sector the second most prominent user of imported oil after the transport sector. The country is blessed with vast reserves of RERs, including hydro, wind, and solar. The exploitation of hydropower potential provides benefits of power generation and also acts as water storage reservoirs for the agriculture and fishing sectors.
Straddling the Indus Valley, Pakistan is endowed with considerable water resources. According to Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), there is 60,000 MW of hydropower potential in the country, of which only 7,320 MW has been developed. Pakistan’s untapped hydropower potential largely lies in the mountainous north along the Indus River in the provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as the Jhelum River in the provinces of Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
A number of hydropower plants were completed or commissioned in 2016 including Ranolia (17 MW), Daral Khwar (37 MW) and Machai (2.6 MW), all located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Several micro hydropower projects were also installed as part of an initiative led by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the support of the Asian Development Bank, to install some 1,000 micro plants. Expected to have a total installed capacity of 100 MW, these micro projects are designed to support rural, off-grid communities by providing affordable and reliable electricity.
Numerous projects are currently under planning and construction in the private sector, overseen by the Private Power & Infrastructure Board, including Karot (720 MW), Suki (870 MW) and Kohala (1,124 MW). These projects are part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a collection of infrastructure
projects supported by the Chinese Government to strengthen Pakistan’s economy and enhance the economic connectivity between both countries.
The run-of-river Patrind hydropower project is another being led by the private sector, a Korean consortium including Star Hydro Power, K-water and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Company. Current public sector projects under construction and overseen by WAPDA include Golen Gol (106 MW), Neelum-Jhelum (969 MW), Dasu (4,320 MW) and the extension of the Tarbela plant.
The construction on the fourth extension of the 3,478 MW Tarbela hydropower plant located on the Indus River continues. The Tarbela Dam is the largest earth-filled dam in the world, and the fourth extension to the hydropower plant will lift its installed capacity to 4,888 MW. The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have also announced USD 720 million in co-financing to help fund the fifth extension to the plant, which will add a further 1,140 MW in capacity.
