Neelum Jhelum: Project’s dam diversion tunnel completed

After completion of the dam, power unit of 50 MW will be installed in the diversion tunnel adding to the 969MW unit.

LAHORE:

Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has successfully completed the 969 megawatts (MW) Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) dam diversion tunnel in record time.

The half-a-kilometer long tunnel has been completed in two years at a cost of Rs492 million to divert the River Neelum. As of Tuesday, 25% water of the River Neelum is flowing through the tunnel, while the whole river will be diverted after four days. Subsequently, construction of the main dam will commence.

After the completion of the dam, a power unit of 50 MW will be installed in the dam diversion tunnel. This 50 MW generation will be in addition to the designed 969 MW capacity of the project.

Overall completion of the project is scheduled to be completed in 2016. The project will contributed about 5.15 billion units of electricity annually to the National Grid. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs30 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2011.