A Consultancy Contract for the 5th Expansion of Tarbela Hydropower Plant signed aimed to convert irrigation tunnel 5 into a power-generating tunnel.
A consortium comprising China North Water Engineering Group and its local Pakistani partner, MMP Company, signed a consultancy contract with Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) for the fifth phase of the Tarbela Hydropower Plant expansion. The signing took place in Lahore on September 9th.
The Tarbela Hydropower Plant, situated on the Indus River between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, began construction in 1968 and started operations in 1976. It serves multiple purposes such as irrigation, flood control, and power generation, irrigating 170,000 square kilometers and having a reservoir capacity of 13.7 billion cubic meters. Spanning 2,743 meters with a height of 143 meters, it is the world’s largest earth-fill dam by volume. Initially, the plant’s capacity was 2,100 MW, which was later increased to 4,888 MW.
The plant’s fifth expansion will convert irrigation tunnel number 5 into a power-generating tunnel, adding 1,530 MW and raising the total capacity to 6,418 MW. Additionally, this project is a significant milestone for China North Water Engineering Group, which previously worked on the Diamer-Basha Dam, and is financed by the World Bank and AIIB.
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