Located on Kunhar River in Khyber Pashtun Province of Pakistan, Suki Kinari Hydropower Project is a run-off-river type hydropower project. With the main task of power generation, the project features in a high water head and a long conduit. It consists of three main components, including the headwork, the waterway and the underground powerhouse complex. The project installs four pelton turbine-generator units of 221MW each and possesses a total installed capacity of 884MW. The maximum water head hits 922.72m, while the minimum one stands at 845.76m. The average annual power generation reaches 3,129 GWh.  As one of the first batch of priority projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the project is the largest overseas greenfield hydropower project financed by Chinese company up to now.

Dam Site

In the process of design and construction, the Chinese company tackled diverse challenges and undertook multiple innovations.The construction was kicked off in 2017, the phase I river closure was completed in September, 2019, and the installation of first generator was conducted in September, 2021. Moreover, the project created over 4,000 jobs for local people during the peak construction period. Once fully put into operation, the project will play an important role in alleviating power shortage and stepping up social and economic development in Pakistan.