On 20 May 2020, the Pakistan government signed a whopping Rs 442 billion (USD 5.8 billion) contract for a 70:30 joint venture between Chinese state-run firm China Power and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), a commercial arm of the Armed Forces of Pakistan. The contract covers construction of a diversion system, main dam, access bridge and the 21MW Tangir hydropower project.
The dam will be constructed on the River Indus in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) region. When completed in 2028, the Diamer Bhasha dam, China’s first major civil engineering scheme in Kashmir, will have a 272-metre-high barrage, making it the tallest roller-compacted concrete dam in the world. The project will be part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), itself part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
It will have a generating capacity variously given as 4.8GW and 6GW, and will be situated in the Pakistan-administered region of Gilgit-Baltistan, about 320km from the Chinese border. As well as power, the dam will create a 200 sq km reservoir, greatly increasing Pakistan’s water security.
The first phase of the dam, worth $2.8bn, has been awarded to a team made up of China’s Power Construction Corporation and the Pakistan Army’s Frontier Works Organisation, with 70% going to the Chinese company.
Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), announced the project on 20 May. Pakistan government will provide 30% funding and “the rest will be arranged by the Wapda” – understood to be a reference to loans from China. The total cost of the project is expected to be US$8.8bn, but earlier a figure of $14bn had been quoted.
In 2016, the project was named as one of the projects in the China-Pakistan Economic corridor. However, in 2017, Pakistan backed out when the Chinese demanded 100% ownership of the completed asset.
The eight million acre feet (MAF) reservoir with 272-metre height will be the tallest roller compact concrete (RCC) dam in the world. It will have a spillway, 14 gates and five outlets for flushing out silt. The diversion system involves two tunnels and a diversion canal — all three having one kilometre length each. The bridge — a box girder structure — under the contract will be constructed downstream of the dam structure while the 21MW power plant will be built to meet energy requirements of the project during construction.
