Gomal Zam Hydel Power Station: Damaged power generating unit restored

LAHORE: Wapda has restored the damaged power generating unit of Gomal Zam Hydel Power Station and synchronized it successfully with the National Grid upon completion of all commissioning tests and full operational readiness to ensure safe and reliable operation of the unit.

With Unit No1, becoming fully functional, Gomal Zam Hydel Power Station, located in South Waziristan, has now been restored to its original installed generation capacity of 17.4MW, benefiting the people living in far-flung areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said a Wapda spokesman. Prior to this, Gomal Zam Hydel Power Station was running on half of its installed capacity i.e. 8.7MW for the last 8 years, he added.

Gomal Zam Hydel Power Station has two generating units - of 8.7MW each - with an annual generation capacity of 90.9 million units. The facility is connected to the National Grid through 132KV South Waziristan-Tank transmission line. Both units became non-operational in October 2016 due to a technical fault rendering the Reverse Power protection relay inoperative.

He pointed out that Wapda managed to restore Unit No2 with its in-house expertise and own resources in June 2018. However, Unit No1 could not be restored due to the nature of the damage. Primarily, it was law and order situation in the area, which hampered restoration works for about 10 years. The rehabilitation works, awarded to a Joint Venture at a cost of Rs359.5 million, started on April 5, 2026, which have been successfully completed in 80 days on June 25, 2026.

Gomal Zam Hydel Power Station is a component of Gomal Zam Dam, which is a multi-purpose project, designed to ensure water availability for irrigated agriculture, flood mitigation and affordable electricity generation.

Since its completion in 2013, it has been playing a key role in poverty alleviation in the area. Besides having an installed power generation capacity of 17.4MW, the project has a gross water storage capacity of 1.14 million acre feet to irrigate 191,139 acres of land.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026