ATTOCK, Feb 17: The Ghazi Barotha hydropower plant resumed operation on Tuesday after a 24-day closure, an official statement said. One unit has started generating power by injecting 290mw in to the national grid , an official of the Ghazi Barotha Hydro Project (GBHP) said.

He said shutdown had become necessary due to the routine inspection of power channel after its dewatering on Jan 18. The other three units will start operation soon, he added.

The statement said four units, having a total generation capacity of 1,160mw, had already been commissioned, while the testing of the last and fifth unit also commenced on Feb 16, which is expected to go into operation by the end of March, thus completing the total generation capacity of 1450mw form the GBHP.

Sources said Wapda suffered a loss of Rs2 billion due to closure of the power house.