The World Bank’s board will discuss proposed financing for the first stage of the Government of Pakistan owned 4,300MW Dasu hydropower project on 29 May.
IJGlobal previously reported that the World Bank is expected to lead the financing and that debt is likely to sign in June.
Under consideration for the board will be credit from the International Development Association (IDA) of $565 million and a $460 million IDA guarantee intended to leverage commercial financing. If the World Bank approves the debt then financing should sign in June as expected.
Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and National Transmission and Distribution Company (NTDC) are expected to provide at least $600 million and $80 million, respectively for the project. And IJGlobal understands that ICBC and China Ex-Im Bank have also expressed an interest to provide debt.
The project has a total estimated cost of around $7.5 billion and will be built in two stages. The first stage is expected to complete in 2019, with costs estimated as being between $4.2 billion and $4.5 billion.
The project’s developers told IJGlobal the first stage will have a capacity of 2,500MW, while the World Bank says the first stage will generate 2,160MW.
The additional capacity will be added on once the initial stage of the dam has been completed. A completion date for the second stage has not been decided.
The dam will be located on the Indus River 7km from Dasu town and 350km from Islamabad. WAPDA will operate the project and will agree a tariff on a yearly basis with fellow state body, the NTDC.
