RECORDER REPORt

LAHORE: The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has planned to rehabilitate 69-year-old Rasul Hydel Power Station located at a link between Upper Jhelum and Lower Jhelum Canals near Khokhra Head Works in Mandi Bahauddin district of Punjab.

Rasul Hydel Power Station was commissioned in 1952 with an installed capacity of 22 megawatt (MW). It was the biggest hydel power project of Pakistan that was commissioned after independence. Since its commissioning, the Hydel Power Station has contributed about 5.5 billion units of low-cost, clean, green and environment-friendly electricity to the national grid. The reduced efficiency of the equipment due to obsolete technology and aging factor has necessitated rehabilitation of the Hydel Power Station to regain and increase its generation capacity. An in-house feasibility study has been completed to proceed further to implement rehabilitation of Rasul Hydel Power Station.

This was crux of a briefing made to Wapda Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (retd) during his visit to Rasul Hydel Power Station on Tuesday. Mangla Hydel Power Station Chief Engineer, Rasul Hydel Power Station Resident Engineer and other officials were also present on the occasion. Highlighting the significance of hydel electricity in stabilizing the power tariff and facilitating socio-economic uplift of the country, the chairman said the Wapda has been implementing a two-pronged plan for making optimal utilization of hydro resources in Pakistan. On one hand, we have been constructing new projects including Mohmand, Diamer Basha and Dasu, while on the other hand, also rehabilitating our aged hydel power stations like Mangla, Warsak and Rasul to improve hydel ratio in the system under the plan, he added. Earlier, the chairman visited the power station and allied components including spillway and head gates. He also planted a tree during the visit.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021