WAPDA COMMENCES CONSTRUCTION ON HYDROPOWER TRAINING INSTITUTE; EU, AFD PROVIDING 4 MILLION EUROS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF INSTITUTE

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 May 22, 2017: The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has commenced construction work on Hydro Power Training Institute (HPTI), Mangla. Ambassador of France Mrs. Martine Dorance and Ambassador of the European Union (EU) Jean Francois Cautain jointly broke the ground to initiate construction work on HPTI in a ceremony held today for the purpose.

Member (Water) WAPDA Nasir Hanif was also present on the occasion. Senior officials of AFD (French Agency for Development), EU and WAPDA attended the ceremony.

It is pertinent to mention that the EU is providing 2.5 million Euros as grant, while AFD is providing 1.5 million Euros as loan for setting up of this state-of-the-art training facility to enhance technical capabilities of engineers and technicians associated with hydropower sector in Pakistan.

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, Member (Water) WAPDA thanked the   EU and AFD for their support to establish HPTI, adding that WAPDA highly values the financial assistance of France and the EU for development of water and hydropower resources in Pakistan. He said that HPTI is the first broad-based training institute of its kind, that will prove to be instrumental for capacity building of the engineers and technical staff leading towards sustainable development of hydroelectric generation in Pakistan. He expressed the hope that the institute will amply cater for the training requirements of the four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and the private sector in addition to WAPDA’s own manpower in the field of hydro development.

It is also worth mentioning that for the last ten years, France through AFD has been promoting green energies in Pakistan and has allocated more than 300 million Euros to investments in hydroelectricity. About 80% of this amount is financing projects implemented by WAPDA to develop the tremendous Pakistani potential in hydroelectricity. France and EU are committed to support the Government’s strategy to solve the energy crisis and to fight climate change through investments in low-carbon-emission energy generation in line with COP21 Paris agreement approved by the Parliament of Pakistan.