LAHORE: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) on Saturday said that it has successfully conducted simultaneous load rejection test on all three units of Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project.

“Wapda on Friday successfully carried out simultaneous load rejection test of all three units of Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project. The test was conducted at the load of about 1,100 Mega Watt (MW) under the supervision of consultants and the contractor of the project,” a press release issued by Wapda read.

The simultaneous load rejection test was aimed at testing the stability of under-water parts and rise in speed and pressure of the turbines. Such tests are carried out once a hydropower project is complete and all generating units are fully operational.

The completion of Tarbela 4th Extension and Neelum Jhelum hydropower projects this year has exerted positive impact on overall hydel generation as it surged to 5,241MW during the peak hours on Friday, registering an increase of about 46 per cent if compared with 3,581 MW generated on this day last year, the release added.

“Since its commissioning, Tarbela 4th Extension Project has so far contributed 1.26 billion units of low-cost hydel electricity to the National Grid despite low flows of water this year,” it added.

The 1,410MW Tarbela-4 has been constructed on Tunnel No. 4 of Tarbela Dam. The project has three generating units, each of them having capacity of 470 MW. The project will provide 3.84bn units of electricity on the average to the National Grid per annum. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs30bn. With completion of the project, the installed capacity of Tarbela Hydel Power Station has increased from 3,478 MW to 4,888MW.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2018