A delegation of the World Bank (WB), led by Vice President Martin Raiser, visited sites of the Tarbela 5th Extension and Dasu Hydropower Project on Sunday, with the two projects funded by the multilateral agency.
The delegation reviewed construction work, with the project management team apprising them about the progress of work regarding the powerhouse, tail race culvert, canal and switch yard.
The extension has an installed power generation capacity of 1,530 megawatt (MW). On completion, it will increase the power generation capacity at Tarbela Dam from 4,888 MW to 6,418 MW.
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The information provided at the time of the delegation’s visit suggested that the Tarbela project would start electricity production in 2025.
The delegation also visited the Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station, which was completed in 2018 with financial assistance from the WB. They were told that the project had provided 22.56 billion units to the national grid.
The visitors from the WB were then flown to the under-construction Dasu Hydropower Project at River Indus, upstream of Dasu town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Dasu team briefed the delegation that the river diversion system had been functioning satisfactorily since its completion early this year, according to information shared with the media. The flushing tunnel had been completed, while an excavation of the right bank bypass tunnel has recently been completed.
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Excavation of the right and left abutments of the main dam, intake, powerhouse, tailrace tunnel, surge chamber and transformers cavern was in progress, the delegation was told.
The Dasu Hydropower Project will be completed in two stages. At present, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) was constructing stage one, with an installed generation capacity of 2160 MW and an annual energy generation of 12 billion units. The second stage of the project was likely to be commissioned in 2026, they said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2023.
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