French envoy inaugurates hydropower project in KPK

by Staff Reporter

PESHAWAR: Ambassador of France Philippe Thiébaud, French Development Agency (AFD) Vice-President Grégory Clémente and the secretary of the Minister of Water and Power inaugurated the Jabban Hydropower plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A press release said the Jabban Hydropower Project located on Swat canal in Malakand division was built in 1937, but it discontinued its production after a fire broke out in November 2006.

It said that a soft loan agreement of 26.5 million euros (nearly Rs3.5 billion) was signed in 2010 between the French Development Agency and the Government of Pakistan to rehabilitate this plant.

With the participation of highly-qualified engineers from Wapda and NESPAK, the infrastructure was rehabilitated and the capacity of the plant was increased from 19 to 22 megawatts, the press release said, adding that the plant would employ 50 workers and provide electricity to more than 240,000 people.