Wapda envisages 42,000 megawatts installed capacity by the end of 2016

[Naveed Yaseen]

MUHAMMAD SALEEM
LAHORE (October 04 2008): The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is vigorously carrying out feasibility studies and engineering designs for various hydropower projects with accumulative generation capacity of more than 25,000 MW and most of these studies are at an advanced stage of their completion. These studies, which are under way, include Bunji (5,400 MW) and Kohala (1,100 MW).

After the completion of these projects, the installed capacity is expected to be around 42,000 MW by the end of year 2016, sources told Business Recorder on Friday. Sources said Pakistan had been blessed with ample water resource, but it could develop only 13 percent storage capacity of the annual flow of its rivers, and that too were fast depleting due to sedimentation.

Under the Wapda's National Water Resource and Hydropower Development Programme - Vision 2025 - five mega hydropower projects are to be completed by 2016 with the generation capacity of 9,500 MW. Two projects were ready for awarding construction works, while three projects were in the stage of feasibility studies and preparation of tender documents, the sources added.

According to the sources, Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project has 969 MW installed capacity and will generate 5.15 billion KWh of annual energy. The project is expected to be completed in 2016. Diamer Basha Dam project, having total capacity of 4,500 MW, will produce annual energy of 16.7 billion KWh. The project had a live storage of 7.9 billion m3. The expected year of commission was 2016 with an approximate cost of 9.5 billion dollars, the sources said.

The sources said that today, the total generation capacity exceeded 17,366 MW and all big cities, towns, and a large number of big villages had the benefit of electricity. The number of consumers had also gone up to over 17.7 million, the sources said, adding that length of the lines had crossed the figures of 447,349 kilometres and the number of grid stations had increased to with 601 transmission capacity of more than 12,745 MVA.

To bridge the supply-demand gap and to do away with the load shedding, the Wapda on its part was taking many a corrective measures, which included improvement in power plants efficiency, energy loss-reduction through erection of extra high tension lines of 500 KV capacity and replacing old and worn out and overloaded distribution lines and transformers with that of high capacity etc, the sources said. According to sources, the Wapda's SCARP programme has raised new hopes for the control of the twin menace of salinity and water logging, which had gathered menacing proportions as a result of the unlined irrigation system.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=816522