May 25, 2026: Chairman WAPDA Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed (Retd) was briefed about the progress about the Projects during his visit to Tarbela Dam. The day-long visit was aimed at reviewing progress on the under-construction Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project (T5 HPP) and witness testing and commissioning of Low Level Outlet (LLO) of Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project (T4 HPP). Chairman IRSA Amjad Saeed, Members of IRSA Technical Committee and WAPDA’s Member Water and Member Power also accompanied him during the visit.
At T5 HPP, the Chairman was briefed about the component-wise progress achieved so far. These included Intake Structure, Connecting Tunnel, Penstock and LLO, Power House, Tailrace Culvert, Tailrace Canal and Switchyard. Concerted efforts are underway to meet the timelines for each component. The Chairman appreciated the efforts and directed the Project Team, the Consultants and the Contractors to take all requisite measures for expeditious execution of work while ensuring quality standards and safety parameters.
T5 HPP has an installed generation capacity of 1530 MW. World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are providing US$ 390 million and US$ 300 million respectively for construction of the Project. With completion of T5 HPP, the installed power generation capacity at Tarbela will increase from 4888 MW to 6418 MW.
Earlier at T4 HPP, the Chairman witnessed testing and commissioning of LLO to ensure availability of the outlet to meet IRSA’s demands for water releases in Kharif season. During the visit of T4 HPP Machine Hall and Control Room, the Chairman was briefed that the Project, completed with the World Bank’s financial assistance, started electricity generation in March 2018 and it has so far provided 33.254 billion units of electricity to the National Grid.
Later, the Chairman had a briefing about the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of Tarbela Dam and Khanpur Dam. Tarbela Dam has so far released more than 419 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of stored water for the agriculture sector, in addition to contributing 586 billion green, clean and low-cost electricity to the National Grid. Tarbela Dam has provided economic benefits to the tune of US$ 460 billion to Pakistan since 1974.
GM TDP, GM Power Tarbela, GM/PD T5 HPP, Advisor Projects WAPDA, Advisor T4 and T5 HPP and PD T4 HPP were also present during the Chairman’s visit to Tarbela Dam.
