The total generating capacity of the Tarbela Hydropower Station will touch 4,888 megawatt mark with the addition of 1,410MW as a result of 4th extension project.
Official sources told APP on Sunday that the detailed engineering design, tender documents and PC-1 of the Tarbela 4th Extension Project are in active progress and would be completed by next month and would cost $5.5 million provided by the World Bank.
M/S Mott MacDonald (UK) is hired for the detailed engineering design of the project.
The sources said that the project would take four years after award of the contract.
They said the project would not only generate additional 1,410MW cheap hydropower but also save foreign exchange of $900 million spent on import of one million tons of furnace oil annually for equivalent generation of electricity from thermal resources. The World Bank has also shown interest in financing civil works and generating units of the project during the construction, they said.
It is pertinent to mention that Tarbela`s 4th Extension Project is a part of least-cost energy generation plan, being implemented by WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) on priority to harness indigenous hydropower resources of the country with a view to improving the ratio of hydro electricity in the national grid.