Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) on Thursday allowed to process 1,161 MW hydel projects through public private partnership, giving hydel power a priority to meet growing energy demands of the country.

First meeting of the Board of PPIB held after receiving statutory status through an Act of the Parliament held here under chair Federal Minister for Water and Power, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar. The minister while addressing the meeting said hydropower and power from Coal are at top priority and our government has been focusing on the same for quite some time.

Some remarkable developments have been made in the hydropower sector during our tenure whereby 84 MW New Bong Hydropower Project on Jhelum River near Mangla Dam is due to be commissioned by next month and furthermore 147 MW Patrind Hydropower on Kunhar River near Muzaffarabad, has started construction at a fast pace.

The Minister informed the meeting that giving due importance to the hydropower, the Board advised PPIB to go forward with 665 MW Lower Palas Valley and 496 MW Lower Spat Gah Hydropower projects in Public-Private Partnership mode in Kohistan Valley with the cooperation and consultation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government.

Board also approved the extension of Letter of Support to 100 MW Gulpur Hydropower Project located at Poonch River/Gulpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and its change in shareholding structure and also the extension of Letter of Interest to 548 MW Kaigah Hydropower Project located near Dasu, District Kohistan to facilitate early development of these projects. In addition, PPIB was allowed today to undertake development of 90 MW Neckeherdim-Paur and 58 MW Turtonas-Uzghor hydropower projects in the Chitral region through the private sector.

The Minister further added that in order to facilitate local coal and wind power projects all efforts are being made including finalising of upfront tariff for these projects which will be done with the proactive support of NEPRA.

The Managing Director PPIB N.A. Zuberi briefed the Board on achievements of PPIB under 1994 and 2002 Power Policies whereby PPIB has so far successfully implemented twenty eight (28) private power projects of more than 8,500 MW which is almost one-third of the total installed capacity of the country. The current portfolio of projects which are at various stages of processing comprises of twenty-one (21) hydro, coal, oil & gas based power projects of more than 9,000 MW out of which sixteen hydropower projects totalling 7,032 MW are expected to be on line starting this year up to 2020.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary Planning Commission, Chief Secretary Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Chairman WAPDA, Additional Secretary Finance, Secretary Energy Government of Sindh, Additional Secretary Energy Government of Balochistan, representatives from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, and Federal Board of Revenue. Private Sector members from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan besides Directors of PPIB and other senior government officials also attend the meeting.