Efforts on to generate affordable hydropower

PESHAWAR: The Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO), a subsidiary of the Energy and Power Department, is working hard to generate affordable hydropower in the province.

A handout said that PEDO was generating more than Rs32 billion in revenue for the province.

It said that being the largest revenue-generating agency with annual revenue of over Rs5 billion, PEDO was currently generating 161 megawatts cheap electricity and the capacity would be increased to 224 megawatts next year.

The annual revenue is expected to increase from about Rs5 billion to Rs10 billion.

New employment opportunities were being created in the province for the development of the industrial sector by

generating cheap electricity through the wheeling model, said Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah while addressing a review meeting on ongoing energy projects of PEDO.

He said that after the successful transfer of the Chief Minister’s House and Secretariat as well as the Civil Secretariat to the solar system, additional power generation through

net metering was saving millions of rupees in terms of electricity bills.

He said that around 4,440 mosques, 8,000 schools and 187 Basic Health Units (BHUs) are also being shifted to the solar system while 13 solar mini-grids are being constructed to promote commercial activities in newly merged districts.

In addition to this, 302 numbers of mini micro-hydel stations have been completed in the underdeveloped areas of the province.

About 29 megawatts of cheapest electricity is being provided to the poor people at the village level.

During the meeting, Secretary Energy Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah expressed satisfaction with the progress made on the ongoing projects of PEDO.

He hoped that completing ongoing projects would help overcome the power crisis and stabilize the economy.