Small-scale hydropower plants are proving a key way to provide power in remote regions of Pakistan, while at the same time helping protect the environment.
By Saleem Shaikh, Thomson Reuters Foundation: AHMEDABAD, PAKISTAN — In her home in the remote Hunza valley, Gul Mehreen smiles as she places a tea kettle on the electric stove in her immaculate kitchen.
As she makes tea for guests, the farmer jokes about “how amazingly enjoyable” cooking has become since a small-scale hydropower generator was installed nearby. Her visitors nod and burst into happy laughter.
In this picturesque village, perched above the gushing turquoise waters of the Hunza river, and with a view of the 8,000-meter (26,000-foot) Rakaposhi mountain, in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, women once had to walk for miles to collect firewood each day.
[…] The village’s community-run micro hydropower station – built in 2008 by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme with backing from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund – produces about 190 kilowatts of electricity an hour.
Source: CSMonitor.com
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