LAHORE – The hydel power stations owned and operated by the Pakistan Waterand Power Development Authority (WAPDA) generated the highest-everelectricity during the peak hours of the last two days as WAPDA hydelgeneration crossed 7500 megawatt (MW) mark for the first time in Pakistan.
Giving hydel generation details, the WAPDA spokesman said here Tuesday thatWAPDA provided as much as 7571 MW and 7513 MW of electricity to theNational Grid during peak hours on September 16 and 17 respectively.
This quantum of hydel power share registered an increase of about 1000 MWif compared with that of previous years, he said, asserting that thisincreased share of hydel electricity in the National Grid is the result ofpower generation commencement from Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Projectand Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project.
In accordance with outflows from Tarbela Dam and availability of water inRiver Neelum, two units of Tarbela 4th Extension and one unit of NeelumJhelum were providing electricity to the system.
The statistics of yesterday’s hydel generation during the peak hours showthat Tarbela Hydel Power Station generated 3461 MW, Tarbela 4th Extension770 MW, Ghazi Barotha 1450 MW, Mangla 920 MW, Warsak 185 MW, and NeelumJhelum 243 MW while other hydel power stations cumulatively shared 484 MWto the National Grid, he added.
He mentioned that WAPDA owned as many as 19 hydel power stations withcumulative generation capacity of 6902 MW.
In addition to these 19 hydel power stations, WAPDA has also completedthree hydropower projects in 2018 namely Tarbela 4th Extension, NeelumJhelum and Golen Gol with total installed capacity of 2487 MW. Theseprojects are in their defect liability period and generating electricity inaccordance with the prescribed standard operating procedure (SOP). Theelectricity generated by these projects is also being injected to thesystem.
He further said that hydel electricity is the cheapest one andenvironment-friendly. WAPDA provides about 31 billion units of hydelelectricity on the average each year to the National Grid. The share ofhydel generation greatly contributes in lowering the overall electricitytariff for the consumers, as electricity generated through other sources isfar costlier. – APP