LAHORE: The World Bank will provide about $850 million for the Tarbela 4th Extension Project, which is expected to be completed in four years and generate 1,410MW additional electricity.

This was stated by Wapda Member (Water) Syed Raghib Abbas Shah while addressing a delegation of Pakistan Navy War College here. After completion of Tarbela 4th Extension Project, the generation capacity of Tarbela Power Station will rise to 4,888MW.The Member (Water) said that in view of the increasing needs of water and power in the country, Wapda is implementing a number of projects in the two sectors.

Diamer-Basha Dam (with gross water storage capacity of 8.1 million acre feet and power generation capacity of 4,500 MW), Bunji (7,100 MW) and Dasu (4,320 MW) hydropower projects, Munda Dam multipurpose project (gross water storage capacity 1.29MAF and power generation capacity 740 MW) and Kurram Tangi Dam (gross water storage capacity of 1.2 MAF and power generation capacity of 84 MW) are to name a few, he added.

The Member (Water) said that three projects with cumulative generation capacity of 350MW will be completed this year, while 969MW Neelum Jhelum and 106MW Golen Gol hydropower projects are scheduled to be completed in 2016.

The Member (Water) said that the Government is simultaneously implementing short, medium and long-term strategies to control floods.

Earlier, Wapda General Manager (Hydro) Planning Hasnain Afzal, briefing the delegation said that 20 million acres of virgin land could be developed for agriculture provided water is made available by constructing new dams. He also informed the delegation about Wapda’s achievements, future projects, and new initiatives etc. Pepco General Manager (Coordination & Monitoring) Ziaur Rehman briefed the delegation about electricity demand and supply scenario, national power sector energy plan and issues related to electricity tariff.