Star Hydro Power has secured a $97m loan from the Asian Development Bank to finance the construction of a 144MW hydro power plant in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.

The private sector hydropower plant, located between the Kunhar and Jhelum rivers, is expected to minimise power shortages in the region, which has experienced recent brownouts and blackouts.

Star Hydro Power is jointly owned by Korea Water Resources Corporation, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Company and Sambu Construction.

The plant, expected to be operational by 2016, will displace about 280,000t of carbon dioxide emissions annually.