Chairman WAPDA Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) has said that Tarbela Dam has been phenomenally contributing towards economic and social development in Pakistan since its completion in 1974.
Under-construction Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project (T-5) will increase its hydel generation. Chairman WAPDA expressed these views during his visit to Tarbela Dam today. He had a detailed round of Ghazi Barrage downstream of Tarbela Dam, intake, penstock and power house sites of T-5 Project, Tarbela Hydel Power Station and Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station.
Earlier, GM Tarbela Dam/PD T-5 Project briefed the Chairman about effective operation and benefits of Tarbela Dam. He was also briefed about the progress on the under-construction T-5 Project, which is scheduled for generation in 2025. GM (Power) Tarbela made a presentation about the matters related to the operation and maintenance of the 3478 MW-Tarbela Hydel Power Station and the 1410 MW-Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station.
Tarbela Dam has been a vital project for irrigated agriculture and economy of the country, because it provides water for agriculture, mitigates floods and generates a sizeable quantum of low-cost and environment friendly hydel electricity to the National Grid. As many as 64 million acre feet of water are released annually from Tarbela Dam to meet irrigation needs of the country. In addition, Tarbela Hydel Power Station and Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station have contributed 540.37 billion units and 17.30 billion units green, clean and cheap electricity to the National Grid respectively since their commissioning.
Tarbela has the singular honour of possessing more than half of the total installed capacity of hydel generation in Pakistan. With completion of under construction 1530 MW-T-5 Project, the existing installed capacity at Tarbela will rise from 4888 MW to 6418 MW.
