ISLAMABAD, AUG 07 (DNA) – Two hundred and seventy Chinese technicians are expected to arrive in Pakistan to provide expertise for the Suki-Kinari hydropower project, which is being built alongside Kunhar River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

As per the details, around 270 Chinese technicians from Chengdu – the capital city of China’s south west Sichuan province, will arrive in Pakistan via Air China’s chartered plane CA555/6 on August 12 to assist and offer their technical expertise in the construction of Suki-Kinari hydropower project in the KP province.

The Chinese government had asked for special NOC accommodate their experts, and as such Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has already given a especial permit for the Air China plane CA555/6  to land in Islamabad on August 12.

Chinese officials have reassured that strict COVID-19 preventive and screening measures will be carried out and all passengers will be tested before departure from China. The Chinese embassy had asked for a special waiver of coronavirus SOPs to accommodate the passengers.

The embassy has also said that nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 will be conducted for all passengers before departure and only those who test negative will be allowed to travel. The Suki-Kinari hydropower project is being constructed on the Kunhar river in Kaghan valley located in Mansehra District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Suki-Kinari project will generate 870 megawatts of power when it will be completed in 2022. It is 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.

The dam is expected to be 54.5 metres high and 336 metres wide when completed. The reservoir will span over 3.1 kilometres in length and will have a capacity to store 9 million cubic metres of water. It will constitute two spill ways and four 218 megawatts turbines.

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 Chinese would operate it for 30 years after which the project would be transferred to the KP government.

Once completed, the project will add 884 megawatts to the national grid and all four units are expected to become fully operational by 2022. The completion of this hydropower plant will play an important role in promoting Pakistan’s industrial development and economic recovery.  The project is expected to cost around US$ 1.9 billion and is scheduled to be operational by year 2022. = DNA

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