Karot Hydropower Station
Karot Hydropower Station is situated in Punjab Province of Pakistan, 55 km from the capital city of Islamabad. It has a storage volume of 152 million m3, and the normal pool level of its reservoir is 461m. The Station is developed with one single function of power generation, with a total installed capacity of 720 MW (4*180 MW) and firm output of 116.1 MW. The average annual energy output is 3.21 billion kW·h, and its annual operation hours stand at 4,452.
Karot Hydropower Station is the first large-scale hydropower project invested and developed under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the first hydropower investment project under the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Besides, it is the first hydropower investment project listed in the China-Pakistan Joint Statement. It is also noteworthy that Karot Hydropower Station is the first hydropower project in Pakistan fully adopting Chinese standards and technologies. On April 20th, 2015, during his visit to Pakistan, Chinese President Xi Jinping witnessed the ground breaking ceremony of the Station with the state leader of Pakistan.
Changjiang Institute of Survey, Planning, Design and Research Corporation (CISPDR Corporation) undertook the survey and design work and tackled technical challenges including high sediment concentration, poor stability of regional geological structure, high seismic fortification intensity, soft rock tunnel excavation, and soft rock damming.
Karot Hydropower Station is designed and constructed in accordance with advanced Chinese hydropower technical standards, and managed in line with sustainable development performance standards of International Finance Corporation (IFC). Moreover, a series of management plans have been formulated for promoting social and environmental management, community investment, resettlement action, stakeholder management, biodiversity management, etc. The construction of the Station has driven the development of relevant local industries and boosted economic growth. Upholding the green development concept of benefiting the local, this project has won unanimous recognition from IFC, consultants of bank consortiums, local community residents and the Pakistani government.
During its implementation, Karot Hydropower Station has created approximately 5,000 direct local employment opportunities and gained significant tax revenue for the local government. Besides, the construction contractor has carried out in-depth cooperation with the local government to achieve social responsibility, including projects for improving people’s livelihood, scholarship programs to support Pakistani students for further education in China, and inviting Pakistani hydropower experts to China for field visits, exchanges and joint studies. Project implementation and cooperation has given birth to a large number of outstanding engineers, managers and professional technical teams for the two countries, upgraded Pakistan’s power sector and supporting industries, and promoted international recognition of China’s hydropower technologies, standards and concepts.
After its completion, Karot Hydropower Station will become the fifth largest hydropower Station in Pakistan, generating annually over 3.2 billion kW·h of clean energy and satisfying the power demand of more than two million households. Therefore, it will greatly enhance the power supply in Pakistan. Besides, the project is expected to reduce CO2 emission by 3.5 million tons per year, increasing the proportion of clean energy and optimizing energy mix in Pakistan.