The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) plans to add up to 10 GW of hydropower capacity in Pakistan by 2030 through the phased completion of its under construction projects. The added capacity will effectively double Pakistan’s installed hydro capacity in ten years, as the country already had nearly 10 GW of capacity at the end of 2020. Besides the 10 GW under construction, the country has more than 36 GW of hydro projects currently under development.
In July 2022, Pakistan commissioned the 720 MW Karot hydropower plant, one of five projects on the Jhelum River (northern Pakistan), alongside the Azad Pattan plant (700 MW), the Mangla Dam (1.1 GW), the Neelum-Jehlum plant (969 MW) and the Kohala plant (1.1 GW).
In 2020, hydro represented 25% of Pakistan’s installed capacity and 26% of the country’s power generation. Pakistan targets 60% of renewables in its installed capacity by 2030 (half of which will be hydro).
