ISLAMABAD: Five hydroelectric projects with capacity to produce about 5,700MW of electricity would be completed by 2016, said an official of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) on Sunday.

He said electricity produced by the five projects would help meet the energy requirements of the country.

The official termed the Diamer-Bhasha dam project on the Indus a ‘lifeline’ for the national economy and said it would go a long way in providing water for agriculture and electricity for domestic and industrial use. The dam has three important objectives — flood control, power generation and water storage.

The gigantic project would generate 4,500MW of electricity and store over 8 million acre feet of water to meet growing power and irrigation needs, he said.

The Golen Gol Hydropower Project, being constructed by Wapda in Chitral district, is scheduled to be completed by 2015. It would produce 106MW of electricity.

The project is part of the government’s plan to produce electricity at cheap rates. It is being executed by Wapda on priority basis to harness the indigenous resources to improve the ratio of electricity produced by hydropower projects in the national grid, help reduce electricity tariff and provide relief to consumers.

On its completion, the project would contribute about 436 million units of electricity to the system.

The Neelum-Jhelum Hydroelectric Project is being constructed over Neelum river. Once completed, the project would contribute about 5.15 billion units of electricity annually to the national grid.

Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs30 billion and it is scheduled to be completed by 2016.

The Wapda official said the Neelum-Jhelum project would help the country in meeting its growing energy requirements. It would produce 969MW of electricity after commissioning.

The Duber Khwar Hydropower Project is located on the Khan Khwar river, the right-bank tributary of the Indus, near Pattan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province at a distance of 265km from Islamabad. The project would produce 130MW of electricity.

The Wapda official said the tender for Kurram hydropower project had already been floated and engineering design was complete. The project would produce 84MW of electricity and it would be completed within 48 months.—APP