ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Zafar Mahmood has said that the first unit of the 969 MW-Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project will be commissioned in June 2017 while three units will also come on line one by one by December 2017.
He expressed these views during his visit to the project, said a press release. Expressing satisfaction over the pace of construction work, the Chairman observed that the progress on most of the components is ahead of revised schedule.
Appreciating the project authorities, the consultants and contractors for their efforts to expedite construction work, he directed them to work with the same level of commitment to complete the strategically important project during 2017.
The Chairman visited the dam site at Nauseri, river crossing at Majohi and power house at Chattar Klas to witness the construction activities going on there.
He also attended the break-through ceremony of the right tunnel in river cross section. It is pertinent to mention that the two sections of the right tunnel-one excavated from dam site and the other from power house – were connected with amazing precision on January 9 against the target of January 15.
Performing the connectivity of the two sections, he said that Neelum Jhelum Project is a monument of the Pak-China friendship towards development of hydropower in Pakistan.
During the visit, the Chairman was briefed that overall progress on the project stands at 76 percent. Out of 68 kilometers long tunnels, 59 kilometers have so far been excavated, while the dam is 74 percent complete.
The power house and the switchyard of the project are scheduled to be completed in November this year. On its completion, Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project will contribute 5.15 billion units of electricity every year to the National Grid.
Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project Chief Executive Officer Lt. Gen. (R) Muhammad Zubair, Project Director Nayyar Ala-ud-Din and representatives of the consultants and contractors were also present on the occasion.
