LAHORE: In a major development regarding the financing needed to generate clean, green and affordable electricity in Pakistan, the World Bank (WB) has approved additional financing of $01 billion for the Dasu Hydroelectric Project WAPDA on the Indus River.
This is the only financing given by the World Bank for a project in Pakistan. These facilities include concessional financing through the World Bank’s IDA and IBRD arms. According to a WAPDA spokesperson on Tuesday, the approval was approved at the World Bank meeting.
This additional financing by the World Bank demonstrates the Bank’s confidence in WAPDA’s financial strength and expertise to successfully implement mega projects in the water and hydropower sectors.
Currently, WAPDA is building eight mega projects worth $26 billion to add 9.7 million acre feet (MAF) to the reservoir and double its hydropower capacity from 9,500 to 20,000 megawatts (MW) over the next five years. WAPDA has developed an innovative financing strategy to build this project by leveraging financial strength and relying less on the national exchequer. Dasu is one of the projects under construction.
The 4,320 MW Dasu Hydroelectric Project is being built on the Indus River upstream of Dasu, Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project is planned to be completed in two phases – each phase with a generating capacity of 2,160 MW. Currently, WAPDA is constructing Phase-I of the Project. Following the successful re-routing of the Indus River last year, construction work in key areas of the Project continued simultaneously. Phase I of the Dasu Hydroelectric Project will begin in 2026. It will contribute 12 billion units per year to the national grid. Phase 2 will also add another 9 billion units to the system annually.
