The strategically crucial Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project achieved a historic landmark, as the project attained its maximum generation capacity of 969 megawatts (MW) on Tuesday. All units of the project are generating power to their maximum capacity.
Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Lieutenant General Muzammil Hussain (retired) congratulated the project’s management, engineers and other employees on the achievement.
The hydropower project has four generating units, each of them with a generation capacity of 242.25 MW. The first unit was commissioned in April this year, followed by the remaining three units coming into operation, each after one month’s interval.
The fourth and last unit was synchronised with the national grid on Monday and attained its maximum generation capacity on August 14, 2018.
Neelum Jhelum Project’s power contribution doubles
Neelum-Jhelum is a state-of-the-art hydropower project, with 90% of it being underground and beneath the high mountainous areas.
The project, constructed on river Neelum in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has a dam at Nauseri, an underground waterway system, consisting of 52-kilometre (KM) long tunnels and an underground powerhouse at Chattar Kalas with four power generating units.
The project will provide about 5 billion units of electricity to the national grid every year, with annual estimated benefits of Rs55 billion.