Wapda to complete Tarbela 4th extension project on time

TARBELA: The top management of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has expressed the resolve to complete 1,410MW Tarbela Dam 4th Extension Power Project (T-4), within the stipulated period.
Funds are no issue, as the World Bank is financing almost the entire project and after fully mobilising the contractor, work on tunnel four is in full swing, achieving around 40 percent progress on physical and financial fronts, Zafar Mahmood, chairman of Wapda, said during a briefing to journalists on the progress of the project at the dam site.
He said strictly adherence to the quality standards is the need of the hour, while working on the project site. There will be no compromise on the quality of work under the acceleration programme, the Wapda chairman said.
Tarbela 4th Extension Project is part of the government’s ambitious plan to launch several projects having accumulative generation capacity of around 10,000MW by 2017/18 through various means.
The Tarbela 4th Extension is being built at Tarbela Dam on the River Indus. After completion of T-4, the generation capacity of Tarbela Dam, biggest hydropower project of the country, will jump to 4,888MW from 3,478MW.
However, snags like difficulties in demolishing previous structure in Penstock area hampered completion of the work as per the schedule.
Although work on the project site is not fully on schedule, Iqbal Masood Siddiqui, Tarbela Dam General Manager, expressed confidence to complete the project on time.
Siddiqui expressed the hope to complete the project by the middle of 2017 under the acceleration programme.
The early completion will enable Wapda to save $300 million on account of additional power generation in the midst of high flows season.
Dilating upon the benefits of the project, he said that the T-4 having three units of 470MW each would produce 3,840GWh of cheap hydropower at a time when electricity needs would be at peak in hot and humid weather, substantially reducing shortfall in the power supply.
The overall development objective of the Tarbela 4th Extension is to opt a sustainable expansion in the national electricity generation capacity.
There are several components to the project, including construction of power house and modification to the tunnel, installation of power units and ancillary equipment, he added.
The World Bank is providing $840 million for the construction of the project. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at around Rs30.7 billion. The project will pay back its cost in just three years.