960 megawatts more power from Tarbela in four years: Wapda chairman

The Chairman of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Shakil Durrani has said that additional power of 960 mw will be generated from Tarbela under new extension plan. He told APP that an estimated $700 million would be spent on the project for which the World Bank was supporting the government of Pakistan.
He said, "Engineering consultants have reached Pakistan for the fourth Tarbela extension project which will be completed in four years". After completion of the project, 960 mw additional electricity would be generated from the reservoir, whose existing power generation capacity is 3,400 mw. He said, "Development work is also underway on 969 mw Neelum-Jhelum project, which will be completed in seven years". He said that 10 km tunnel had been constructed at the project site.
He said the United States had signed two agreements with Pakistan to provide $66 million for completion of Gomal Zam and Satpara dam projects. Shakil said these dams would provide over 35 megawatts power to nearly 55,000 households in South Waziristan and Skardu, and would be helpful to meet the country's energy needs.
He added that out of total amount, the United States would provide $40 million to help complete the Gomal Zam multi-purpose dam in South Waziristan in FATA. He said the project would provide 17.4 megawatts of electricity to 25,000 households, and added that the Gomal Zam dam would have the capacity to store enough water to irrigate 191,000 acres of farmland.
He said the United States would also provide $26 million to complete the Satpara multipurpose dam project, located in Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan. The dam would provide 17.7 megawatts of power to nearly 30,000 households and help end load shedding in Skardu. He said its water storage capacity would irrigate over 15,000 acres of land and provide 3.1 million gallons per day of potable drinking water after completion of the dam.
He added that annual agricultural output was expected to increase more than four-fold, generating about $6 million in additional economic benefit to the community each year. He said the two projects would provide energy solutions and improve the quality of life for people in FATA, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and Gilgit-Baltistan.