The Suki Kinari Hydropower Station (SK Station) in Pakistan started impounding on Feb 28 local time.
With a total capacity of 13.45 million cubic meters, the reservoir has a normal water level of 2,233 meters and a maximum flood level of 2,237.6 meters.
The impounding of the reservoir is scheduled to last for 35 days and the first hydropower generator unit is expected to start operation on May 1.
A view of the dam of the Suki Kinari Hydropower Station (SK Station) in Pakistan invested and built by China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (ENERGY CHINA) [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Invested and built by China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (ENERGY CHINA), the SK Station located over the Kunhar River is about 250 kilometers from the capital Islamabad.
With a total investment of $1.96 billion, the station is one of the first projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the largest overseas greenfield hydropower project invested by a Chinese enterprise.
As a high-head long-tunnel diversion-type hydropower station, it is designed with four impact hydraulic generator units with a total installed capacity of 884 megawatts.
The asphalt concrete core-wall rockfill dam of the station has a maximum height of 54.5 meters.
A view of the reservoir of the SK Station [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Once fully operational, the station is expected to generate 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of clean power annually, providing cheap power for more than 1 million households.
The output is equivalent to that produced by burning about 1.28 million tons of standard coal and a reduction of about 3.2 million tons of carbon dioxide.
(Executive editor: Zhu Zeya)
