LAHORE: Chairman Wapda Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) has said that electricity generation from the project would start in 2025.

He visited Tarbela 5th extension hydropower project on Friday where he was briefed about the project. Masood Ahmed from World Bank also accompanied the chairman. GM Tarbela Dam Zakir Ateeq, PD Tarbela 5th extension hydropower project and representatives of the consultants and the contractor made detailed presentation on the project.

He was briefed that construction activities are underway on five sites. Recovery plan to match the completion schedule of the project was also discussed in detail during the briefing. Earlier, the chairman witnessed construction work on various sites including intake, penstock and outlet, power house, tailrace culvert and switch yard. Member (Power) WAPDA Jamil Akhtar, GM (Power) Tarbela Nasrum Minallah, GM (HRD) Brig Hamid Raza (r) and GM (Security) Brig Muhammad Tufail (r) were also present on the occasion.

During his interaction with the project management, the Chairman said that green, clean and affordable hydel electricity is all the more important to rationalise the tariff and stabilise the economy. This necessitates timely completion of hydropower projects, he added. The Chairman urged the project management to gear up their efforts and complete Tarbela 5th extension hydropower project in accordance with the schedule.

Wapda is constructing Tarbela 5th extension hydropower project on tunnel No 5 of Tarbela Dam. The World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are providing financial assistance for the project to the tune of US 390 million dollars and $ 300 million, respectively. Cumulative generation capacity of the project stands at 1530 MW with three generating units of 510 MW each. The project will provide 1.347 billion units of environment friendly and low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid on the average every year. With completion of Tarbela 5th extension, installed capacity at Tarbela Dam will increase from 4888 MW to 6418 MW.

The chairman Wapda also visited intake structure of Tarbela 4th extension hydel power station and discussed operation and maintenance (O&M) activities of the power station. Commissioned in 2018 with funding of the World Bank, the 1410 MW Tarbela 4th extension hydel power station have so far provided 18.67 billion units of electricity to the National Grid.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023