Syed Marwan Shah

Located in Mirpur district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Mangla Dam’s units 5 and 6 have been operationalized after refurbishment with the financial assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), reports WealthPK. The upgradation of units 5 and 6 was carried out under Phase 1 of the Mangla Power Refurbishment Project. The dam produced 1,000 megawatts of electricity from its 10 generating units but power generation dropped to 980MW due to the dilapidated and outdated equipment.

According to the USAID, units 5 and 6 previously had a combined generation capacity of 80MW and 100MW respectively but now their capacity has been increased to 135MW each and collectively by 90MW that is enough to cater to a population of 833,580. The revenue from the electricity sales is expected to be about $60 million a year. An official working at the dam informed WealthPK that work has also begun on units 3 and 4, which is expected to be completed in August next year. According to WealthPK research, Wapda is implementing the Mangla refurbishment project with an approved PC-I cost of Rs52.224 billion.

The USAID is providing $150 million as grant, while AFD – a French Development Agency – is providing €90 million as loan. The rest of the amount is being paid by the Wapda through different loans and own resources. Feasibility study shows that with the upgradation of the units, which was to be carried out without making any major change to the design, the dam’s overall power generation capacity would go up to 1,310MW from the existing 1,000MW. The first four units (1 through 4), each with a capacity of 100MW, were completed in 1967 with a lifespan of around 35 years.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk