Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project delayed further

LAHORE: The completion of Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project has been delayed further, as it is now expected to be fully operational in June instead of earlier completion date of April 2018, an announcement said on Thursday.

The formal launching of 969MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project has also been delayed further.

Against the earlier date of February 2018 for commissioning of the first power generation unit of Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has announced that the first unit of the project is now scheduled to go into operation by early March 2018.

The commissioning of power generation units was earlier to be done from February to April 2018. However, the first unit of the project is scheduled to go into operation by early March 2018; followed by the second, third and fourth units at one month interval, respectively. Hence, the project would be fully operational in June 2018 instead of April.

According to Wapda, Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project is in final stage of completion, as most of the major milestones, which were required to be completed prior to the commissioning of the project, have successfully been achieved.

These milestones included completion of dam and start of water filling in the reservoir, completion of waterway system, comprising 51.5km long tunnels, installation of turbines, generators, transformers and other electro-mechanical equipment in the powerhouse, the switchyard, and dry testing of electro-mechanical equipment.

The National Transmission and Dispatch Company’s transmission line is expected to be completed by the end of this month, while water filling (pressurisation) of waterway system will commence during the first week of January 2018, the announcement said.

In the first phase, water filling (pressurisation) will commence from the tail-end, it added.

Meanwhile, Wapda Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (Retd) visited Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project. During the two-day visit, the Wapda chairman reviewed the construction work on dam site, head race tunnel, underground power house and tail race tunnel.

Reviewing the construction activities on various sites of the project, Lt Gen Hussain said that the ongoing dry tests of electrical and mechanical installations and pressurisation of the tail race tunnel are of paramount importance.

With this in view, the laid down parameters relating to the safety of the project should be taken into account in such a way that the pace of work is not compromised, he added.

He reiterated that Wapda is committed to complete this and other under-contraction hydropower projects in the shortest possible time.

The Wapda chairman said it is a matter of satisfaction that the long-awaited Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project is getting ready for generation after inordinate delay spread over years.

The project is being constructed on River Neelum in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It is an engineering marvel with 90 percent of the project being underground in the high mountain areas.

The project consists of four units with installed capacity of 969MW. On its completion, it will contribute around five billion units of electricity to the national grid annually with over Rs50 billion revenue injection in the national exchequer.