China helps out energy-starved Pakistan (2)

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China helps out energy-starved Pakistan (2)

By ZHANG YUNBI (China Daily) 08:24, August 08, 2013

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Chinese companies in Pakistan have also made strides to improve the nation's production in hydroelectricity.

Xiong Lixin, vice-president of Sinohydro Corp Ltd, served nearly seven years ago as a project manager for the landmark Gomal Zam Dam in northern Pakistan to help build both the dam and a hydroelectric plant at the site.

The dam also serves to help irrigate farmland and control flooding.

Designed and built by Power Construction Corp of China, the plant successfully connected to the national grid on June 26. Xiong said what impressed him most during his time in Pakistan was the intelligence and diligence of the Chinese staff who worked hard to meet construction deadlines on the dam.

With an installed capacity of 17,400 kW, the hydroelectric plant will provide energy to about 25,000 local households, while the dam will help the country avoid annual economic losses of $2.6 million due to flooding.

Xiong said the dam is a symbol of China's leading construction technologies. Pakistani people called the project their national version of the Three Gorges Dam, a mega hydropower generation project along the Yangtze River.

But in building power plants for the country, Chinese companies and contractors have faced numerous difficulties, including concerns about their security.

"The Chinese staff members were brave because the location of the plant was close to Afghanistan and relatively dangerous. That intimidated many other foreign engineers," Xiong said.

In October 2004, work on the dam came to a halt after unidentified militants kidnapped two Chinese engineers working on the project at the northwestern border of Pakistan.