Govt rebuts claims of cancelling power-generation component of Diamer-Bhasha Dam

The Power Division has refuted a report claiming the government has cancelled the power-generation component of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam. Located on the Indus River near Gilgit-Baltistan, the dam is expected to have 8.1 MAF of gross water storage capacity and an installed power generation capacity of 4,500 megawatts. The energy ministry's Power Division called a report by Brief, a reader-supported publication, "fake news" and affirmed that the power generation component is a committed project in existing and future Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) documents.

Brief's report alleged the government's decision was due to lobbying by independent power producers (IPPs) who received "vast sums even when their plants produce little or no power." The Power Division clarified that new IPPs are no longer active in Pakistan following the establishment of a free electricity market. The report also claimed that the leaked documents indicated the government should prioritize water storage over power generation and transmission infrastructure, citing "rapid rooftop-solar growth, declining demand, 'substantial excess electricity generation', uncertainty over the coming decade, and a lack of financing" as contributing factors.

The document suggested spending $2 to $3 billion on additional water storage would be more "pragmatic" than building the power component, but the Power Division stated that incorporating civil works allowing the dam to generate power at a later stage "should be incorporated".