ISLAMABAD - The Korean state-owned company Korea South East Power Company, KOEN, has entered into an agreement with KP government for the development of 197 MW Kalam-Asrit Hydropower Project.

A Memorandum of Understating in this regard was signed between the KP government and the KOEN, here Tuesday. The agreement was signed by the representatives of the KP government and KOEN in the presence of KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak.

Talking to the media on the occasion, the chief minister said that the project will be completed with the total estimated cost of $500 million. The KP government will get revenue of Rs 35 million annually without doing any investment, he added.

He said that for the first time KP government has signed agreements for around 2200 MW hydropower projects in the provinces. Since the hydropower projects usually take six years therefore the fruit will be ripped during the next government.

He said that federal government is not sincere in its claim of controlling the electricity theft/losses it is just a rhetoric as no practical step was taken so far.

He said that the Ex-Wapda disco (Pesco) officials are involved in electricity theft and unless crackdown against these officials is carried out the electricity theft cannot be controlled.  He said that other issue of system losses which cannot be controlled without the upgradation of transmission and distribution system.

He said that despite the government claims of enough generation, load shedding cannot be controlled in the provinces of KP, Sindh and Baluchistan as the transmission and distribution system in these province is out dated and no investment was made by the federal government.

The chief minister said that KP is generating 3500 MW electricity while the province's demand is 2400 MW, however, due to the system constraints the province cannot utilize more than 1800 MW of electricity.

Regarding the claim of constructing 350 dams in KP during PTI five years tenure, Khattak clarified that it was not big dams but small hydropower projects.

He said that 50 small hydro projects have been completed while work on 50 other projects is underway.

Briefing about the project, Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (Pedo) Acting Chief Executive Officer Syed Zianullah Shah said that the 197 MW Kalam-Asrit Hydropower project is Run of River scheme planned to be developed on Swat River on BOOT basis as per KP Hydropower policy 2016.

The project is located on the Swat River, near Kalam village 405 Km from Islamabad. The weir is suggested to be located at the village Kalam about one kilometer downstream the confluence  of Gabral River and Ushu River.

The proposed head race tunnel will run on the right side of Swat valley, parallel to the Swat River; straight down to the village Asrit.