PESHAWAR, Nov 13: the United States would replace 335 old water pumps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with modern pumps that would boost energy efficiency by up to 65 percent, improve water supply and reduce power consumption by nearly three megawatts, said a press statement issued here on Tuesday.

It said that the old pumps wasted large amounts of power because they operated at only 28-40 per cent efficiency. The inefficiency led to inflated electricity bills and a financial burden for government power companies and their customers, it added.

As part of its commitment to help alleviate the energy problem in Pakistan, US Consul General Robert Reed along with Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Department Bashir Ahmed Bilour launched this USAID initiative at the first pump replacement site.

“Following similar successful programmes in Islamabad and Karachi, this activity is a continuation of USAID’s close collaboration with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to bring better services to the citizens,” said Mr Reed.

Part of USAID’s Power Distribution Programme, this initiative will decrease the local government and rural development department’s financial burden by an estimated $740,000 each year, provide a continuous supply of clean water to surrounding communities and help reduce Peshawar Electric Supply Company’s circular debt burden.

In total, USAID assists nine power distribution companies across Pakistan, helping them improve their performance by reducing power losses, increasing revenues and improving customer services.

The project to replace water pumps is just one part of a comprehensive US energy assistance programme, which includes renovating power plant at Tarbela Dam, upgrading Guddu, Jamshoro and Muzafaragarh power plants, and completing construction of the new Satpara and Gomal Zam dams.   Together, those large-scale energy projects would add 900 megawatts to the power grid by 2013 — enough power to supply electricity to an estimated two million households, the statement added.