Agreement signed: France to provide €120m soft loan for Keyal Khuwar hydropower project

ISLAMABAD: France will provide soft loan of € 120 million for Keyal Khuwar 128 MW Hydropower project. Dr Kazim Niaz, Secretary Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) and Philippe Steinmetz, Country Director French Agency for Development (AFD) signed the loan financing agreement, here on Monday.

The French loan assistance will support 128 MW facility, located in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), near the city of Pattan. This soft loan will support the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in its mandate of hydroelectricity sector development in Pakistan.

The funding will also help enhance the competitiveness of renewable power generation thus, promoting affordability and scaling up the energy supply. These will be achieved while also mitigating the impacts of power generation on climate and the environment, in line with the policies of the Government of Pakistan.

The project will contribute to the Government of Pakistan’s strategy to develop green energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and climate-friendly projects, in line with the French pledge and commitments announced at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, which took place in Geneva on January 9, 2023.

The Republic of France through the French Agency for Development is working in Pakistan providing technical and financial support in the energy and urban development sector aiming at green investment in Pakistan.

Secretary Ministry of Economic Affairs thanked the French government and the AFD for extending this financial assistance to Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023