Tarbela Dam can still generate 960MW more power

[Naveed Yaseen]

Israr Khan
Lack of political will and red tape have hindered generation of more than 960 megawatt expected potential energy that could be retrieved from Tarbela reservoir by carrying out a slight modification to the dam’s structure and installing two more turbines to cope with the power crisis, well placed officials told ‘The News’.

Talking to high officials and senior engineers on a visit to Tarbela Dam, this correspondent found that possibility of increasing the dam’s power generation capacity was still there. They said: “Since long, the government had planned to modify the water reservoir of Tarbela to pave way for generating about 960MW electricity, but due to lack of political will and red tape, the projects is still in the doldrums.”

There was a plan to install two more turbines at Tarbela Dam, but the said turbines would not be able to generate electricity for six to seven months. However, there was a need to introduce some modifications in the water reservoir (lake) with a view to ensuring sizeable head of water on the two proposed turbines for six to seven months to generate electricity. There is already room or provision in the original design of the water reservoir for proposed modifications and it would not affect the dam, sources in Ministry of Water and Power said.

On this particular issue, feasibility studies are being carried out for making some modifications to make the project of installing two turbines, having the capacity to generate 960MW electricity, economically viable.

Earlier, there was a proposal that the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) would accomplish this project of strategic significance, but due to lack of adequate financing, the authorities concerned decided that private sector should come forward to complete this project despite the fact that Tarbela Dam is a sensitive and strategic asset of the country.

This project was then handed over to the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) and was given the task to bring the investment from any intending private company to execute the project. But, after elapsing of more than two years, even a single stone has not been overturned.

A month back the PPIB handed over the project to Wapda as they were unable to execute it. In this way a lot of time has been wasted and the project is still in cold storage. The dam has five tunnels but only three are being utilized for power generation while other two tunnels i.e. IV and V remained unattended.

Tarbela is the world’s largest earth and rock filled dam but sedimentation in the reservoir has reduced its storage capacity. The dam has now attained the installed capacity of 3,478MW from 14 units.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=129568