Chinese firm requests PM to reinstate 700 MW Azad Pattan power project in energy expansion plan

The China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) has called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to include its 700.7 MW Azad Pattan Hydropower Project (HPP) in the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2025-35, citing concerns over policy consistency, investment certainty, and strategic energy planning, Business Recorder reported. 

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Wang Xiaoming, CEO of Azad Pattan Power Private Limited (APPPL), expressed appreciation for earlier instructions from the Prime Minister to address issues raised in APPPL’s June 23, 2025 communication. However, he noted that the response from the Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) dated July 29, 2025 — forwarded through the Ministry of Energy on September 5 — failed to address the company’s core concerns.

The company stated that ISMO’s reply only clarified the nomination criteria for public sector projects as “Committed” under IGCEP 2024-34, ignoring the fact that Azad Pattan is a priority energy project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Developed by Energy China, a Chinese state-owned conglomerate, the project operates under Pakistan’s prevailing power policy framework.

The CEO highlighted that Azad Pattan was consistently classified as “Committed” in IGCEP iterations from 2018 to 2022. In the 2024-34 plan, the project was reclassified as a “Candidate,” contravening the National Electricity Plan 2023–2027, which mandates that projects previously declared “Committed” remain so.

Wang emphasized the challenges of financing hydropower projects, including high seismic, geological, and hydrological risks, remote locations in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and logistical complexities. He warned that exclusion from IGCEP jeopardizes Chinese bank financing under CPEC, undermines investor confidence, and disrupts the near-final financial closing, despite execution of the facility agreement and PPIB approval of the term sheet.

Hydropower projects, he noted, have the longest development cycles but offer operational lifespans of up to 100 years, providing low-cost energy, storage, and grid stability. Delays in prioritization risk indefinite postponement of critical infrastructure essential to Pakistan’s energy security.

The letter also stressed the strategic importance of projects like Azad Pattan and Kohala HPP in securing Pakistan’s water rights under the Indus Waters Treaty, particularly as the Treaty faces pressures.

Wang urged the Prime Minister to personally intervene to ensure Azad Pattan HPP is reinstated as a “Committed” project under IGCEP 2025-35. He stated that this would allow sponsors to complete financial closing and mobilize billions of dollars in Chinese investment into Pakistan’s energy sector.