MIRPUR: Mangla Refurbishment Project, which is being implemented by the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), will increase the generation capacity of Mangla Hydel Power Station from 1000 mega watt (MW) to 1310 MW.
This was told to WAPDA Chairman Zafar Mahmood during his visit to Mangla Dam in a briefing here Friday.
The chairman had a detailed round of Mangla Hydel Power Station, the Dam and the spillway during his visit. He also visited Mangla reservoir rim at Khaliqabad. Mangla Dam General Manager Ghulam Sarwar Memon, and other senior officers were also present during the visit.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman said that there is a dire need of injecting low-cost hydroelectric power to the national grid to mitigate electricity shortages and reduce electricity tariff.
Therefore, it is imperative that Mangla Refurbishment Project be completed within the stipulated time frame, he added. Referring to the high flows and the present water level in Mangla lake, which is 1236.7 feet, the Chairman directed the authorities concerned to take utmost care and strictly follow the criterion jointly devised by all stakeholders for filling the reservoir.
Earlier, Mangla Dam General Manager briefed the Chairman about the mechanism being adopted for filling the reservoir with special reference to the floods in the other Western rivers including Chenab and Indus. It was briefed that the raised Mangla Dam filled to its maximum level of 1242 feet last year providing about 3 million acre feet of additional water for irrigation in addition to generating additional 620 million unit low-cost hydel electricity.
It is pertinent to mention that Mangla Hydel Power Station generated 6496 million units of electricity in fiscal year 2014-15 and 5876 million units of electricity in 2013-14.
It is worth mentioning that Mangla Dam, the first-ever mega project in Pakistan comprising water storage and four power generating units of 100 MW each was completed in 1967. Subsequently, units 5 and 6 were installed at the power house in 1974 and units 7 and 8 in 1981. Mangla Power House attained its maximum capacity i.e. 1000 MW in 1994 with addition of units 9 and 10.
Since its commissioning, the power house has contributed more than 210 billion units of low-cost electricity to the National Grid. The aging factor of the generating equipment and availability of additional water due to the raised Mangla Dam necessitated the refurbishment and up-gradation of Mangla Hydel Power Station.
