Category: Highlights

State-owned Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) is mulling a floating solar energy installation in three of its key hydropower dams, which experts say is a cheaper option for renewable energy than land-based solar farms. Norwegian firm Multiconsult said it will conduct a pre-feasibility study for floating solar PV (F-PV) potential on Kamburu, Kiambere and Turkwell reservoirs. Under the study funded by the German development bank KfW, Multiconsult said it will review the power infrastructure at the sites, assess hydro turbines characteristics, operation of the reservoirs, water flow patterns and power…

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PAKISTAN heavily depends on groundwater to sustain its agricultural production and to ensure food security. However, it is feared that the on-going unsustainable groundwater abstractions might have serious repercussions to the sustainability of the agrarian economy of Pakistan. After the green revolution of the 1960s, groundwater use in irrigation has been increasing steadily in Pakistan. Between 1960 and 2010, the overall groundwater share to irrigation water supplies increased from nearly 8 per cent to more than 60pc. The massive increase in groundwater use over the past few decades has been…

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The recently signed agreements in Pakistan for hydropower projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) marked the beginning of a mature new phase for the program, which is under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), experts told the Global Times on Thursday. The concessional agreement for the 700.7-MW Azad Pattan Hydropower Project was signed last week, a breakthrough for the implementation of the project, according to China Gezhouba Group, the Chinese investor in the project. With a total investment of $1.54 billion, the construction period of the project is expected to…

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Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, has vowed to build the “biggest dam in Pakistan’s history”. The 272-metre-tall Diamer Basha dam will be able to store up to eight million acre feet (MAF) of water. Khan has also promised to build more dams to generate “clean electricity”; this one will generate 4,500 megawatts. Not all are convinced, and some have been voicing their concerns at the risk of being termed enemies of the nation. One such person is Saif M Hussain, who trained at the California Institute of Technology…

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ISLAMABAD, July 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – For 20 years, Khunjerab National Park was a point of tension between Pakistan’s government – which established the park in 1975 as a sanctuary for rare species – and locals who had grazed their livestock on the land for generations. As disputes over the land raged, poachers decimated Khunjerab’s wildlife, villagers say – until 1995, when local people and the authorities decided to work together to better protect the park. “Our communities knew about natural resource management (and) we were well organised,” said…

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