LAHORE, Aug 18: The Ghazi Barotha Hydropower Project (GBHP) has produced 5.77 billion units of electricity during the first year of its operation.

According to Wapda, this cost Rs26.84 billion to the authority at an average sale price of Rs4.65 per unit. The GBHP was inaugurated on Aug 19 last year by President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Had the project not been launched, Wapda would have purchased power from independent power producers (IPPs) at an average price of Rs5.99 per unit and spend Rs34.58 billion for the same quantity of power.

The first unit of the Ghazi Barotha started commercial operation on Aug 29 last year and second and third units came online on Sept 19 and Nov 19 last year. The fourth unit started production on Jan 20 and the fifth and the last one on May 6 this year.