After the success of Tarbela 4th extension, World Bank (WB) is pushing ahead with plans for starting the next phase of its renewable energy plans for Pakistan, namely Tarbela 5th extension. By using Tarbela 4th as a benchmark, World Bank is confident Tarbela 5 can also be "put into operation in 4 years", generating $200m worth of additional revenue for WAPDA per annum.
World Bank recently concluded its Pakistan mission meeting which was attended by WAPDA management, WB's Team Leader, Dr Rikard Liden and Masood Ahmad, advisor to WB on hydropower. WB team praised WAPDA and other stakeholders, concluding that "Tarbela 4th extension was one of the rare projects completed on time and below cost. It will add 3,000 GWh of electricity annually worth about $350 million in value and saving of foreign exchange". This is an especially important observation as global statistics for hydropower average around 90% cost overrun and 70% project duration delay.
The success of Tarbela 4th extension has not only boosted the confidence of World Bank, but it has augured well for other international donors including Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). In AIIB's annual infrastructure report for 2019, AIIB reaffirmed its commitment for the upcoming Tarbela 5th extension project, after its head of communications said "our focus will remain on projects that can be carried out on a sound economic basis and contribute towards Pakistan's long-term economic development".
Despite such acclaim and success for mega donor funded projects in Pakistan, serious challenges still lie ahead. The recent bureaucratic interference and subsequent negative projection of projects like Tarbela 4 is complicating matters for the incumbent Government and frustrating donors.
The stark contrast on how such projects are viewed locally compared to their assessment by international agencies suggests an urgent need for capacity building of local public sector institutions; enabling them to develop context and equip them with necessary assessment tools and know-how to understand and evaluate large-scale infrastructure development. In the absence of such capacity, departments are unable to perform, inevitably causing delay in the disbursement of much needed funds, causing avoidable losses to the national exchequer and jeopardizing the reputation of projects and all the stakeholders in the process.
The successful completion of Tarbela 5 would increase the capacity of Tarbela from 4888 MW to 6298 MW, making it amongst the top 10 hydropower stations of the world. It would also significantly enhance WAPDA's financial capability, allowing it to invest the significant proceeds from Tarbela 4 and 5 towards the expansion of the Indus cascade.
Comments
Comments are closed.