| LAHORE, April 15: The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) generated 3.2 billion additional units of hydel electricity between July 2010 and March 2011 compared with the corresponding period last year.
According to a Wapda press release, this increased hydel generation has been made possible due to the availability of more water in reservoirs and efficient operation and management of hydropower stations. This additional contribution of a low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid saved about Rs35 billion to the exchequer, which otherwise would have been incurred on generating the equivalent quantum of electricity from thermal resources, it said. According to the data, at least 23.6 billion units of hydel electricity were contributed from July 2010 to March 2011 while about 20.4 billion units were supplied during the same period last year. Tarbela, the largest hydel po wer station in the country, generated 12.3 billion units in eight months as compared with 10.9 billion units last year. Similarly, Ghazi Bartoha, the second in line, produced 5.5 billion units against 4.8 billion units and Mangla, the third in row, 4.2 billion units against 3 billion units, while Warsak and other hydel power stations shared 1.6 billion units against almost the same quantum of electricity last year. The installed capacity of the hydel power generation in the country stands at about 6,500 megawatt, about one-third of the total installed capacity. Wapda is executing a least-cost energy generation plan on a priority basis with a view to improve the ratio of hydel electricity in the national grid. Wapda will add 1,500MW to this capacity through its under-construction projects. It is also executing a number of mega hydropower projects with a cumulative capacity of more than 20,000MW, including 4,500MW Diamer Basha Dam, 960MW Tarbela 4th Ext ension, 7,100MW Bunji, 4,320MW Dasu and 740MW Munda hydropower projects. |
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