Details indicate that the World Bank has given the Dasu Dam’s development a $1 billion approval.
This funding will help local populations have better access to socioeconomic services, increase the amount of electricity produced by hydropower, and strengthen the Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA) capacity to plan for future hydropower projects.
Dasu Town, the provincial headquarters of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province’s Upper Kohistan District, is approximately 8 km away from the DHP run-of-river project on the Indus River. It will be finished and have an installed capacity of 4,320–5,400 MW.
The project is being constructed in phases. With a 2,160 MW capacity, DHP-I will produce 12,225 gigawatt hours (GWh) of affordable renewable energy annually. The same dam will provide 9,260–11,400 GWh annually according to the DHP-II.
Rikard Liden, the project’s task team leader, stated that DHP-I is crucial to Pakistan’s ambitions to wean itself off of fossil fuels and achieve 60% renewable energy by 2031. By substituting domestic fuels for imported ones, the second additional funding may save Pakistan an estimated $1.8 billion a year and offset about 5 million tons of carbon dioxide. It will also enable the development of the electricity supply. It is estimated that DHP-I has an annual economic return of about 28%.
