Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is losing MWs, rather than adding any to the grid

By Anwar Zeb

Power production at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s largest hydro-power station has dropped by 10 Megawatts in the last few years.

The Malakand III Hydro Power Project was installed in 2007. It is the largest of the six hydroelectric power plants in the province. Upon its induction, the project was wheeling out 81 MWs of electricity which has now come down to 71MWs.

“Soon after its launch, the plant was handed over to a private company,” explains Falak Naz Khan, the assistant manager operations, “They did not take care of the installed machinery, leading to a loss in power generation.” 

The official transfer to Alfajar-Norinco Joint Venture, a private firm, took place in 2015. The contract is valid for five years, during which the company is required to look after the plant’s operations and maintenance.

Employees at the plant blame the new caretakers for slacking. A confidential letter, seen by Geo.tv, an engineer complained to the provincial minister of energy and power in July that the contractors had not even registered with the Pakistan Engineering Council, a state institution tasked with the accreditation and regulation of engineers working in the country. It further adds that had the government run the plant itself it could have saved Rs. 420 million in operating costs.

Another operational engineer, who asked not to be named, says that a major concern is the change in the kind of lubricants used after 2015. “The product is affecting operations of three units at the station,” he says.

There are a total of 230 people working at the hydro plant on contract-basis. 

“The chief minister in 2007 promised that the project will only be outsourced for five years since there was a shortage of technical staff,” says Masood Ur Rehman, the president of a workers’ union, “After five years the staff were ensured that they would be regularized. It has been ten years since.”

But the company executives deny there is any need for concern. 

“Power generation is dependent on water flow and machinery,” explains Nabeel Tahir, the CEO at Alfajar-Norinco, “To boost efficiency we need to overhaul the system from time to time. The performance is improving and it will soon be visible.”

Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf which formed the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2013, promised to construct 365 mini hydro projects in the province to add to the national grid. Rival parties say that while KP utilises its 13.5 percent share of the national electricity generation, it has not yet added a single megawatt to the grid. Now it seems, rather than adding, the KP government is further losing electricity.