Home »Fuel and Energy » Pakistan » Wapda contributes 25.63 billion units’ hydel power in 2018

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  • Dec 31st, 2018
  • Comments Off on Wapda contributes 25.63 billion units’ hydel power in 2018
Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) steadfastly moved ahead during the year 2018 to regain glory of its past, as it successfully completed and commissioned three long-delayed mega hydropower projects with cumulative generation capacity of 2487MW. With commissioning of the 108MW-Golen Gol, the 1410MW-Tarbela 4th Extension and the 969MW-Neelum Jhelum hydropower projects in 2018, the installed generation capacity of Wapda hydroelectric power surged to 9389MW from 6902MW, registering an increase of 36 percent in just one year. Prior to this, Wapda could manage to take its hydel generation to 6902MW in 59 years of its inception from the year 1958 to 2017.

As far as hydel generation in 2018 is concerned, Wapda contributed 25.63 billion units of hydel electricity to the National Grid during the year despite the fact that water flows in 2018 remained historically low. The contribution of WAPDA hydel electricity to the system greatly helped the country in meeting electricity needs and lowering the electricity tariff for the consumers. It is worth mentioning that hydropower is the cheapest, cleanest and environment-friendly source of electricity. According to the data of Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) regarding per unit cost of electricity generated from various sources during fiscal year 2017-18, it is 2.22 for WAPDA hydel, which is far less than per unit cost of electricity generated from all other sources. In comparison to hydel electricity, it is Rs 8.91 per unit for gas, Rs 16.16 for residual furnace oil (RFO), Rs 16.45 for high speed diesel (HSD), Rs 10.89 for coal, Rs 8.78 for nuclear, Rs 16.35 for wind, Rs 8.60 for bagasse, Rs 16.83 for solar, Rs 11.30 for re-gasified natural gas (RLNG), and Rs 10.67 per unit for electricity imported from Iran.

Apart from its achievements in hydropower sector, Wapda also succeeded in achieving major targets to construct mega water reservoirs in the country. Resultantly, construction of Mohmand Dam is scheduled to commence in January 2019.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018


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