Neelum Jhelum: First unit to be commissioned in June 2017

WAPDA chief satisfied with progress on hydropower project

The power house and the switchyard of the project are scheduled to be completed in November this year. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE:
The first unit of the 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project will be commissioned in June 2017, while the other three - one at a time - will also come online by December 2017, said Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Zafar Mahmood.

During his visit, the chairman observed that progress on most of the components was ahead of the revised schedule.

He appreciated project authorities, consultants and contractors for their efforts in expediting the construction work and directed them to continue working at the same pace to complete the strategically important project on time.

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The chairman visited the dam site at Nauseri, river crossing at Majohi to attend the break-through ceremony of the right tunnel and power house at Chattar Klas.

It is pertinent to mention that the two sections of the right tunnel - one excavated from the dam site and the other from the power house - were connected on January 9 against the target date of January 15.


“The Neelum Jhelum project is a monument of the Pak-China friendship towards the development of hydropower in Pakistan,” said the chairman while performing the connecting ceremony of the two sections. He was also briefed that the overall progress of the project currently stood at 76%; out of the 68km long tunnel, so far 59km have been excavated while 74% of the dam construction is complete.

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The power house and the switchyard of the project are scheduled to be completed in November this year.

Upon completion, the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project will contribute 5.15 billion units of electricity every year to the national grid.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd,  2016.

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