Mansoor Sadiq

During the past year’s operational progress of the Karot Hydropower Project following its full commissioning, it successfully achieved the goal of zero accidents and zero losses in electricity production. The plant effectively managed the safety measures, with the implementation of more than 100 regulations and operational guidelines to ensure the safe and stable operational status of the plant, said Faizan Akbar, Manager of Engineering at Karot Power Company (Pvt Ltd), while talking to WealthPK. Faizan said Karot HPP, an important project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has proved a success story regarding energy collaboration between Pakistan and China. He said that since its operational status back in June 2022, Karot HPP has successfully achieved a unified transition mechanism from unit commissioning, installation, and testing to operational management. Karot has been the first hydropower project completed under the CPEC initiative. It contributed Rs4 billion worth free of cost electricity to the national grid during its testing phase.

Faizan said that the project during its first calendar year has accomplished a cumulative power generation of 3.64 billion kilowatt-hour, which is equivalent to saving about 1.59 million tons of standard coal and reducing approximately 3.98 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. He said that presently four units of Karot HPP are operating at their full capacity, contributing to delivering clean and green energy to the national grid, and supporting economic development of the country. Since its inauguration, the 720MW plant added around 3.64 billion units of clean and cheap electricity to the national grid. Maaz Awan, Assistant Engineer at Karot HPP, said the project also successfully fulfilled its social responsibility and contributed significantly to establishing hospitals, schools, and other public facilities to facilitate the local communities. According to the latest energy purchase data released on June 15, 2023, by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), Karot contributed more than 509.86 million units of electricity in May 2023 at a cost of Rs115.02 million.

Credit: INP-WealthPk