An Implementation Direct Agreement has been signed that will materialize $320 million of the project cost for the 102MW Gulpur hydropower project in Pakistan.
The agreement was signed on behalf of the Government of Pakistan by the Managing Director of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (an organization of Pakistan’s Ministry of Water & Power), Chief Executive of Mira Power Limited (project sponsors) and the attorney representing lenders including the Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation and Korean Export-Import Bank.
South Korean investors including Korea South East Power Company will inject equity up to 25% of the project cost, with the remaining 75% of the financing to be provided by banks.
Gulpur Hydropower Project will be constructed on the Poonch river in the Kotli district of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The run-of-river type hydropower project will include a 66m high concrete gravity dam, short waterways and a surface powerhouse. The hydro plant of the project will use 201m3/sec design discharge and gross head of 56m to generate 102MW power (with three Francis units) and an annual energy of 475GWh that will be delivered to the national grid.
In August 2015, Mira Power Limited signed an EPC contract for the Gulpur project with a JV of Daelim Industrial and Lotte E&C. Construction work on the project will start soon after achievement of financial close which is expected very soon. The project is planned to be completed in four years, with Korean investors to run the power complex for 30 years, prior to handing it over to the Government of Pakistan.
News by Ejaz Hussain Butt