Chairman WAPDA reviews progress on Tarbela 5th extension

Swabi: Chairman WAPDA Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) on Tuesday reviewed progress on Tarbela 5th Extension    during his visit to the Project, being constructed at Tunnel No. 5 of Tarbela Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Member Water, Member Power, Advisor Projects, Advisor Tarbela Dam, GM (Coordination & Monitoring) Water, GM Tarbela Dam, GM (Power) Tarbela, Project Directors Tarbela 4th and 5th Extension and Chief Engineer (Operation & Maintenance) Tarbela 4th Extension were also present on the occasion.

The Chairman inspected construction activities on various sites, which also include the raised intake, the power house and the tunnel. Representatives of the Consultants and the Contractors briefed the Chairman about site-wise progress achieved so far.

Subsequent to the site visit, the Chairman also presided over a meeting at the Project office. A detailed presentation was made about the key components of the Project.

It was briefed that construction activities are being carried out simultaneously in all five areas i.e. intake, penstock and outlet, power house, tail race culvert and canal and switch yard.

Implementation plan, comprising important benchmarks and their timelines, was also discussed in detail during the meeting. Addressing the meeting, the Chairman said the pace of work needs to be expedited on the Project in order to start electricity generation in 2025-26. He directed the Contractor to deploy additional resources to meet the timelines stipulated in the implementation plan. Adhering to the specified standards is a must to ensure quality of work on the Project, the Chairman said.

Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project is a component of green, clean and least-cost energy generation plan of WAPDA. World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are providing financial assistance for construction of the Project to the tune of US$ 390 million and US$ 300 million respectively.

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 hydel electricity to the National Grid annually. Once the 5th Extension is completed, installed capacity at Tarbela Dam will increase from 4888 MW to 6418 MW.