Tarbela 4th extension project starts generation

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in 2nd week of March inaugurated 1410 MW Tarbela 4th extension hydropower project. Commissioning of Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project is yet another historic milestone achieved by the government to add 1410 MW in the national grid. First unit of 470 MW is commissioned, while as two more units each with equal power generating capacity will be online before the advent of summer this year. The T-4 project will play a pivotal role in balancing energy mix of the country and stabilizing prices of electricity for a long span in future with an attractive economic rate of return of more than 30 percent and annual cost sale of $300 million to national exchequer. Tarbela Dam is located on the Indus River about 100 km northwest of Islamabad. The T-4 project is located within premises of existing Tarbela Dam Project. Tarbela Dam Project, completed in 1976, has provision of 5 tunnels, four on Left Bank and one on Right Bank. Tunnels 1-3 have installed capacity of 3,478 MW with average annual energy generation of 15-16 billion units. The T-4 project will generate 3.84 billion units annually, equivalent of burning of 1 million ton of furnace oil. Newly installed units of T-4 project are more efficient and it is expected to have 10 -15% more energy through these units. President Azad Jammu & Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Minister for Water Resources Syed Javed Ali Shah, Minister of State for Information Maryum Aurangzeb and Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing accompanied the Prime Minister.