LAHORE: In wake of fire incident in jungle adjacent to Tarbela Dam Thursday night, Water & Power Development Authority WAPDA Chairman Shakil Durrani Saturday had detailed round of various components of project, switchyard and power station in particular.
Talking to WAPDA Member (Power) Muhammad Qasim Khan, General Manager Tarbela Dam Project Hazrat Umar, General Manager (Hydel) Operation Wajid Hameed, other senior officers, Durrani said Tarbela Dam had been playing pivotal role for national economy since its completion in mid 70s. He directed authorities to devise comprehensive strategy on the basis of an in-depth analysis of fire incident to minimize possibility of such eventualities in future. Smooth functioning of project, safety, protection of this national asset ought to be foremost priority of project management, he added.
He was told fire occurred in bushes, trees under distribution transformers because of sparking following high winds and put off with concerted efforts. No damage was caused to any WAPDA installation, as all equipment was immediately insulated from the fire.
Later at briefing on Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project he was told Expression of Interest (EoI) had been called to initiate pre-qualification process for its construction. Project with 1410MW generation capacity is part of least cost energy generation plan being implemented by WAPDA on priority.
World Bank is providing $840 million for its construction which on completion, raise generation capacity of existing Tarbela Power Station from 3478 MW to 4888 MW. It will provide about 3.84 billion units of low-cost electricity per annum to national grid. Annual benefits of project have been estimated more than Rs 30 billion and pay back its cost in short span of three years.
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