Officials from the French Development Agency, the European Union and the French government have signed an agreement to establish a hydroelectric training center in Pakistan.
The project, called the Pakistan Hydropower Training Institute (HPTI) will be located at the country’s 1,000-MW Mangla hydroelectric plant with the purpose of increasing “the capacity of both public and private hydropower operators,” according to the French Embassy in Pakistan.
Mangla is already home to an existing training center, which is being rehabilitated and expanded using the grants delegated to the French Development Agency (AFD) by the European Union.
The French Embassy said the HPTI will help Pakistan work toward a number of goals, including:
- Safeguarding large dam and infrastructure projects against climate change;
- Improving the safety and efficiency of hydropower projects;
- Preparing eligible projects for qualification as a United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); and
- Making sure projects and proposals comply with international environmental and social practices in order to make them more attractive to international funding.
Officials said the center will be the only of its kind in Pakistan once it is completed.
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