RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (retd) has said that the 969 megawatt Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project is fast heading towards completion and dry testing of electro-mechanical equipments installed at the power house and the switch yard is in progress.

He said this during his visit to the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project near Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The Project’s chief executive officer (CEO) Brig Muhammad Zareen (retd), senior officers of the project and representatives of the consultants and the contractors were also present at the site.

“It is a matter of satisfaction that all critical activities on the project are being completed in accordance with the timelines, for which extra ordinary commitment and professional excellence by the project management, the contractors and the consultants is commendable,” said the Wapda chairman, speaking on the occasion.

He said that Wapda was expecting the power generation from the fist unit of Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project in February 2018.

During the visit, the chairman was briefed that overall progress on the project stands at 95.4 percent. The dam (weir) of the project has been substantially completed, while reservoir impounding will commence in first week of the coming month. The waterway system for diverting water from the reservoir to the power house will be completed by end of December 2017, whereas wet commissioning of the generating unit will start in February 2018.

Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project is being constructed on river Neelum in AJK. The project is an engineering marvel with 90 percent of the project being underground in the high mountain areas. The project consists of four units with installed capacity of 242.25 MW each. The first unit of the project is scheduled to go into operation by end of February 2018 followed by the second unit in mid March and third and fourth units in April 2018.