Wapda asks NJHP contractor to maximise resources, meet deadline

LAHORE: The contractor of Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) has been asked to deploy maximum resources for completion of this project in accordance with the already agreed timelines.

The directions were conveyed during a meeting presided over by Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Zafar Mahmood on Friday.

The meeting was convened to review construction work on the 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project.

The consultants and the contractor made a detailed presentation about the construction activities on the project, the problems being faced by them and their future plan of action for completion of the project.

The meeting reviewed in detail the construction work at all three sites of the project.

In view of the current progress on the project, a thorough appraisal was carried out on the timelines for project completion.

The meeting observed that Wapda chairman and the project team led by Engineer Muhammad Zubair was earnestly trying to adhere to the timelines to bring electricity in the system as early as possible, but not at the cost of safety, which should not be compromised while working on a complex project like Neelum-Jhelum.

Also keeping in view the latest directions of the prime minister conveyed to the Wapda chairman, low-cost hydropower needed to be added to the national grid to overcome the electricity shortages.

The option to change the timelines is not available; therefore, the construction work must be expedited by increasing resources at site. The chairman emphasised upon the contractor to invest more in the deployment of the machinery and human resources.

He said loan agreement amounting to $576 million was likely to be finalised next week to achieve financial close of the project.

Therefore, an updated construction schedule of the remaining works should be prepared with the consultants and the contractor to ensure adherence to the agreed deadline.

NJHP CEO briefed the meeting about the progress on the dam and de-sander, tunnel excavation, power house, transformers hall, and the switch yard. He said that steel lining of the tunnels in the critical river-crossing area was progressing at a good pace, while concrete lining of the tunnels was also continuing.

He apprised the meeting that subsequent to achieving most of the critical targets, the construction work on all three sites of the project was moving ahead satisfactorily. Overall progress on the project stood at about 83.5 percent, he further said.

As per agreed timelines, the first generating unit of the project should be completed in July 2017, whereas the remaining three units should come online one by one till the end of December 2017.

On its completion, the project would contribute 5.15 billion units of low-cost and environment friendly electricity to the system annually.