LAHORE: The power house of 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) was shut down on Saturday due to inspection.

The unit would remain closed for 29 days until Feb 2 because of inspection, and is expected to resume power generating operations from Feb 3 onwards, according to official sources.

“The project is now due for a thorough inspection of the electro-mechanical equipments from Jan 5 to Feb 2. The low water flow season has been chosen for carrying out the inspection,” stated the Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) press release.

“The project is bracing up for full generation during the next high flow season that will start from April onwards. It has been in operation for almost eight months since its commissioning.”

Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project went into operation with commissioning of its first unit on Apr 13, 2018. All four units went were operatlionalised in phases by Aug 14, 2018.

Since its commissioning, the NJHP has injected over 1.8 billion units (kWh) to the national grid.

The spokesman said the low flow period of Neelum River lasts from September to March, after which it provides the required 280 cubic metre per second of water to run all its four units.

The least flow in the river is during January which is why the month has been chosen for inspection of the draft tubes, flap gates, 3.5km underground tailrace, surge shaft, generating units and auxiliary equipment entailing dewatering of tailrace.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2019