LAHORE: In yet another significant development towards contribution of low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid, Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station crossed 10 billion units generation mark last night as it has contributed 10.021 billion units to the system.

This contribution of Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station yielded revenue of about Rs 75 billion to Wapda. Simultaneously, it also accrued saving worth Rs 100 billion to the national exchequer which would otherwise have been borne to generate same quantum of electricity through thermal resources.

This station has been instrumental in meeting electricity needs of Pakistan, triggering socio-economic development in the country. The project has been constructed on Tunnel No. 4 of Tarbela Dam.

It has three generating units, each of them having capacity of 470MW. With completion of Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project, its installed capacity has increased from 3478MW to 4888MW.

It is worth mentioning that the World Bank has termed Tarbela 4th Extension as the flagship project of WAPDA. This project went into operation with commissioning of its first unit in February 2018, followed by completion of its second and third units in a phased manner by mid 2018. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs 30 billion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020