Pakistan ramps up hydropower projects

KARACHI, Pakistan, July 6 (UPI) -- Pakistan is suffering from chronic electricity shortages that are producing blackouts of up to 16 hours per day and negatively affecting the country's industry.

Seeking foreign assistance to alleviate the power shortages, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has urged his government to assist hydroelectric electricity projects being developed in conjunction with China's Three Gorges Corp.

Zardari instructed government officials to intensify cooperation with the Three Gorges Corp. following a meeting with a Chinese delegation headed by China's Three Gorges Corp. Senior Vice President Wang Shaofeng, The Express Tribune reported Thursday.

Zardari's spokesman, Sen. Farhatullah Babar, said the projects being undertaken with assistance from Three Gorges Corp. could add roughly 2,500 megawatts of electricity into Pakistan's national grid system.

In addition to the approximately 1,950 megawatts generated by hydroelectricity, China's Three Gorges Corp. would assist Pakistan in producing the rest through wind and solar projects.