ISLAMABAD:Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) on Friday visited Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project and reviewed progress on it.
During the briefing, the Chairman was apprised that electricity generation from the project would start in 2025, said a press release on Friday.
General Manager (GM) Tarbela Dam Zakir Ateeq, PD Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project, and representatives of the Consultants and the Contractor made a detailed presentation on the progress of the project.
It was briefed that construction activities were underway on five sites. A 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, powerhouse, tailrace culvert and switch yard.
During his interaction with the project management, the Chairman said, “Green, clean, and affordable hydel electricity is all the more important to rationalize the tariff and stabilize the economy.”
This necessitates timely completion of hydropower projects, he added.
The Chairman urged the project management to gear up their efforts and complete the project in accordance with the schedule.
“WAPDA is constructing the Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project on Tunnel No. 5 of Tarbela Dam. World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are providing financial assistance for the project to the tune of US$ 390 million and US$ 300 million respectively.”
“The 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 average every year. With the completion of the Tarbela 5th Extension, the installed capacity at Tarbela Dam will increase from 4888 MW to 6418 MW, he informed.
The Chairman WAPDA also visited the intake structure of Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station and discussed the operation and maintenance (O&M) activities of the power station.
Commissioned in 2018 with funding from the World Bank, the 1410 MW-Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station had so far provided 18.67 billion units of electricity to the National Grid.
Chairman was accompanied by Masood Ahmed from World Bank, Member (Power) WAPDA Jamil Akhtar, GM (Power) Tarbela Nasrum Minallah, GM (HRD) Brig Hamid Raza (Retd) and GM (Security) Brig Muhammad Tufail (Retd).