ISLAMABAD-The Suki Kinari Hydropower project in northwest Pakistan achieved the hoisting of a core component on Saturday, as a 413-ton rotor, crucial to turning water into electricity, was smoothly installed on the last of four generating units. The successful hoisting of the last rotor will help advance the construction progress of the power station under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), located in the Mansehra district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Noting the hoisting of the last rotor as a key milestone of the 884-megawatt hydropower project, Yu Zhiliang, assistant general manager of the Suki Kinari Hydropower project of the Overseas Investment Company of China Gezhouba Group, which invests in and implements the project, said that it marks the installation of the unit body of the hydropower station is coming to an end. It is also a solid step for the waterless commissioning of four generating units in the coming six months, said Yu. The hydropower project started construction in January 2017. Once getting functional, the CPEC project will annually generate some 3.21 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity, replacing 1.28 million tons of coal and reducing 2.52 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, said Yu. It will significantly optimize Pakistan’s energy structure, boosting the country’s economic and social development, he added. Launched in 2013, the CPEC is a corridor linking Gwadar port with Kashgar in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, highlighting energy, transport and industrial cooperation.