LAHORE: The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is constructing different hydro-power projects to have total generation capacity of 4,773MW, while three others of 11,684MW capacity are ready for construction.

The under-construction projects include 969-MW Neelum Jhelum Hydro-power Project, 106-MW Golen Gol, 1410-MW Tarbela 4th Extension, 128-MW Keyal Khwar and 2160-MW Dasu (stage-I). These projects are at various phases of construction.

The 4,500-MW Diamer Basha Dam Project, 7,100-MW Bunji Hydro-power Project and 84-MW Kurram Tangi Dam Project are ready for construction.

This was stated in exhaustive briefings on water and power issues to the participants of National Security Workshop being conducted by National Defence University during their visit to WAPDA House here on Tuesday.

The NDU delegation consisted of 49 participants belonging to various segments of society. It included senators, members of national and provincial assemblies, bureaucrats, technocrats, ambassadors, representatives of civil society and senior armed forces officers from the three services.

The delegation, which was led by Maj Gen Noel I Khokhar, also included faculty members.

Wapda Member (Power) Badrul Munir Murtiza and other senior officers were also present.

Dr Izharul Haq, Diamer Basha Dam (DBD) adviser and Eng Muhammad Saleem, General Manager (Revenue and Commercial Operations) Pepco, made presentations on water and power sectors, respectively.

The participants were told that hydel electricity is the cheapest, cleanest and most environment-friendly energy source.

Pakistan’s energy mix is heavily tilted in favour of costly sources of power generation and the phased induction of low-cost hydel electricity into the system will provide relief to the consumers.

The workshop participants were informed that water security was a key component of national security as growth of national economy largely depended on availability of sufficient amount of water. Since water requirement was increasing due to increasing population, scarce water resources should be replenished through construction of reservoirs in the country.

In the second briefing on power-related issues, the participants were apprised of key challenges and opportunities in the power sector, including the role and functions of Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), National Transmission Dispatch Company (NTDC), Generation Companies (GENCOs) and Distribution Companies (DISCOs).

They were also informed about power sector reforms with special reference to thermal generation, transmission network and distribution system. The briefings were followed by question-answer session.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014