Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) is undertaking the feasibility studies for the 106MW project. The plant is to be built on the river Golen Gol Nullah, a tributary of the river Mastuj in North West Frontier Province, and is expected to generate 436GWh per year.
Earlier feasibility studies for the project were conducted in 1997 and then updated in 2005. Exploratory drilling has been completed and procurement for construction design and supervision is underway.
The budgeted project cost is US$130M, said WAPDA. Previous estimates have been cited at approximately US$117M. The bulk of the costs will be covered by loans, including that from OFID. The other loans are from the Saudi Fund (US$40M) and the Kuwait Fund (US$37M). The loans were signed by the Government of Pakistan.
Golen Gol was one of many infrastructure projects to receive funding in the latest tranche of reviews of schemes in Asia, Africa and Europe by OFID.
