Chairman of Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd), along with a World Bank delegation, recently reviewed the construction progress of the Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project. This project is crucial for enhancing the country’s green energy capacity.

During the visit, the Chairman conducted a detailed review of the project’s key components, including the intake, tunnel, penstock and outlet, power house, tail race culvert, tail race canal, and switchyard. A progress review meeting was held at the Project Office, where the Project Management updated the Chairman and the World Bank team on the advancements made at these seven key sites. Discussions also covered resource deployment, timelines, and the implementation plan, with a projected electricity generation commencement in 2025-26.

The Chairman stressed the importance of timely project completion to meet the growing energy demand with green and affordable electricity. He urged the consultants and contractors to maximize their efforts to ensure the project is finished by 2025-26.

The Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project, being constructed on Tunnel No. 5 of Tarbela Dam, is financially supported by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with contributions of $390 million and $300 million, respectively. The project has a cumulative generation capacity of 1530MW with three generating units of 510MW each, expected to provide 1.347 billion units of low-cost, environment-friendly electricity to the National Grid annually.

Upon completion, the installed capacity at Tarbela Dam will increase from 4888MW to 6418MW.