Pakistan awards Chinese frirm contract for 1530-MW Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project
Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) hasawarded a $354.6 million worth of contract to the Chinese firm Power Construction Corporation of China Ltd (PCCCL) for civil works of the 1,530MW Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project.
The contract was awarded through international competitive bidding.
Project Director Tarbela 5th Extension Project Muhammad Azam Joya and PCCCL Executive Representative in Pakistan Ling Jianke signed the contract.
The signing ceremony was also attended by Wapda Chairman Muzammil Hussain, World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine, World Bank Task Team Leader Dr Rickard Liden, Wapda Member Finance Naveed Asghar, Member Water Abdul Zahir Khan Durrani, Member Power Jamil Akhtar, and other representatives of the project consultants.
The cumulative generation capacity of the project would be 1,530MW with three generating units of 510MW each.
The contract involves modification of tunnel-5, raised intake, power house, tailrace works including channel and culverts and penstocks. The project will be completed in 37 months with the first unit coming into production by the end of May 2024, followed by the second unit by end of June and the third unit by end of July 2024.
Electricity generation is expected to begin by mid-2024 and will provide 1.347 billion units to the national grid every year. Upon its completion, Tarbela dam’s installed capacity would improve from 4,888MW to 6,418MW.
The project is being constructed on Tunnel 5 of Tarbela Dam with approved PC-I of $807 million (Rs82.36bn).
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), World Bank is providing $390m while Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) would offer a $300m loan.