ISLAMABAD: The hydel power stations operated by the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) delivered 3.896 billion units of low-cost electricity to the National Grid in June 2015, as compared to 3.347 billion units generated in June last year.
This generation registered a tremendous increase of 549 million units (16.4 percent) in a month at a time when the country is in acute need of electricity.
This additional contribution of hydel electricity not only helped minimizing load-shedding in the country during the scorching month of June but also lowering power tariff.
Similarly, as much as 9.015 million acre feet (MAF) of water was available as on June 30 this year in three water reservoirs of the country namely Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma in comparison to 5.384 MAF on June 30, 2014, registering an increase of about 67.5 percent.
This availability of water in the reservoirs is also more than the average water available during the last 10 years on the same day which stands at 4.45 MAF.
The additional availability of water in the dams will prove to be instrumental in coping with the irrigation needs of the provinces besides generating more hydel electricity in the days to come.
According to the generation details, of 3.896 billion units of hydel electricity delivered in June 2015, Tarbela Hydel Power Station alone generated 2.042 billion units - about 52 percent of the total generation.
It is pertinent to mention that Tarbela generates electricity at the cost of merely Rs 0.92 per unit. According to the generation details, the maximum hydel electricity in a day during June 2015 was delivered on June 27, which stands at 138 million units.
It is worth mentioning that the hydel power generation capacity of WAPDA is about 7000 megawatt (MW).WAPDA delivers about 30 billion units to the National Grid every year on the average. Importantly, it delivered 31.944 billion units during the fiscal year 2014-15.
Hydel is the cheapest, cleanest and environment-friendly source of electricity generation. It plays a pivotal role in stabilizing the power tariff.
According to the data of per unit generation cost during July 2014-April 2015, it is Rs 2.76 for hydel in comparison to Rs 7.74 for gas, Rs 16.25 for residual furnace oil (RFO), Rs 18.81 for high speed diesel (HSD), Rs 12.56 for coal, Rs 5.59 for nuclear, Rs 12.83 for wind and Rs 10.89 for bagasse. The basket price of electricity in the system stands at Rs 9.37 per unit.
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