By Muhammad Luqman
In yet another significant development in Pakistan’s energy sector, the contribution of Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project to National Grid has increased to 484 Megawatts (MW), as two units of the project are now generating power to their maximum capacity.
According to Water and Power Development Authority, after successfully completing the reliability period, the Unit No. 3 has been formally taken over by WAPDA for its operation. Having being successfully tested on various load rejection, the Unit No. 2 is generating electricity on its 72-hour reliability run. The Unit No. 4 is getting ready for one-month reliability test period. While, the Unit No. 1 is undergoing through various tests in accordance with the contractual obligations and expected to go on trial generation during next month. The 969 MW-Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project is thus expected to generate power up to its maximum generation capacity by September. So far, it has provided over 311 million units of electricity to the National Grid.
Neelum Jhelum is a state-of-the art hydropower project with 90% being underground and beneath the high mountainous areas. The project, constructed on River Neelum in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has a dam at Nauseri, an underground waterway system consisting of 52-km long tunnels and an underground powerhouse at Chattar Kalas with four power generating units. The project will provide about 5 billion units of electricity to the National Grid every year with annual estimated benefits of Rs.55 billion. Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project will significantly contribute to meet the electricity requirements in the country.
