Islamabad (Agencies): Chairman WAPDA, Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd), along with a World Bank team led by Advisor Masood Ahmed and Task Team Leader Gautum Gunjan, visited the Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project on Tuesday to review the construction progress.
During their visit, the team inspected key components of the project, including the intake, tunnel, penstock and outlet, power house, tail race culvert, tail race canal, and switchyard. Following the site visits, a progress review meeting was held at the Project Office.
The Project Management briefed the Chairman and the World Bank team on the progress achieved so far and discussed resource deployment, timelines, and the implementation plan for the project’s completion. It was noted that electricity generation from the project is expected to commence in 2025-26.
Chairman Ghani emphasized the importance of timely completion to meet the increasing energy demand in Pakistan with green, clean, and affordable electricity. He urged the consultants and contractors to maximize their efforts to ensure the project is completed by 2025-26.
The Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project, being constructed on Tunnel No. 5 of Tarbela Dam, is receiving financial assistance from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, amounting to US$ 390 million and US$ 300 million, respectively. The project will have a cumulative generation capacity of 1530 MW, with three generating units of 510 MW each, and is expected to provide 1.347 billion units of environment-friendly and low-cost hydel electricity to the National Grid annually. Upon completion, the installed capacity at Tarbela Dam will increase from 4888 MW to 6418 MW.