ISLAMABAD: Over 92 per cent work has already been completed on the ongoing 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) and its first unit will start supplying power to the national grid system in February 2018.
Official sources said that that 2nd unit would start generating in March followed by third and fourth unit in April. They said excavation of about 68-kilometer long tunnels system of the project has also been completed on May 5.
With this significant development, the water way system of the project would enter in the final phase which is scheduled to be completed in seven months and the tunnels would be ready to divert water from the dam site to Power House, they said. They said impounding of the reservoir would commence during October this year.
The sources said 100 per cent work on excavation for instalment of turbines has also been completed. Construction work on the project which started in 2008 remained slow due to certain reasons including financial constraints and redesigning of the project. However, most of the bottlenecks were removed during the present regime, they said.
They said work on the project is being carried out in full swing and upon completion, the NJHP would contribute 5.15 billion units of cheap electricity to the national grid. The annual benefits accruing from the project have been estimated at Rs 45 billion.
The NJHP is located in the vicinity of Muzaffarabad. It envisages the diversion of Neelum River water through a tunnel out-falling into Jhelum River. The intake Neelum-Jhelum is at Nauseri 41 km east of Muzaffarabad and has installed capacity of 969 MW.
This is an important project for generation of low-cost and the government is exploring all possible avenues to solve the energy crisis. Around 4,243 kanals of land has been acquired for the project. Out of the total land, AJK authorities provided 719 kanals, while the remaining 3,524 kanals are acquired from private land owners.
