Allai Khwar
Location: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Operator: WAPDA
Configuration: 2 X 60.5 MW Pelton
Operation: 2012
T/G supplier: VA TECH
EPC: Northwest Hydro Consulting Engineers, High-Head Consultants, Guangdong Yuantian Engineering Co
Quick facts: This HPP is located on the Allai Khwar River, a left bank tributary of Indus River, in Besham District The site is 245km from Islamabad. Project compnents include a dam, power intake , sand Trap, 2.4km pressure tunnel, a power house and switchyard. The cost was about Rs 6.71bn. The dam was completed and water diversion started on 30 Jun 2012. Ouput is expected to ve 560 GWh/yr.

Photograph courtesy of EGC Pvt Ltd
Posted 25 Aug 2012

Chashma Barrage
Location: Punjab
Operator: WAPDA
Configuration: 8 X 22.5-MW bulb
Operation: 2000-2001
T/G supplier: Fuji
EPC: Sogreah, National Engineering Services, Hyundai
Quick facts: Due to the low head, this site at Chashma on the Indus River was not particularly attractive for power development until the deployment of more efficient bulb turbine technology. The plant was completed in Mar 2001.

Ghazi Barotha
Location: Punjab
Operator: WAPDA
Configuration: 5 X 290 MW Francis
Operation: 2003-2004
T/G supplier: Voith, Toshiba
EPC: Pakistan Hydro Consultants, Associated Consulting Engineers, Binnie, Harza, Ewbank Preece, Impreglio, Zublin, Nazir & Co, Saadullah Khan & Brothers
Quick facts: The project cost about $2.1bn and was supported by lending from the ADB, EIB, Islamic Development Bank, JBIC, KfW, and the World Bank. Construction started in Dec 1995 and Unit-1 testing started in May 2003.

Gomal Zam
Location: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Operator: North West Frontier Province Irrigation & Drainage Authority
Configuration: 2 X 8.7-MW Francis
Operation: 2013
T/G supplier: Nanning
EPC: China National Water Resources & Hydropower Engineering, Harbin Power Engineering Co, Sinohydro
Quick facts: This 133m high RCC dam is on the Gomal River at a narrow ravine near Khajuri Kach in South Waziristan Agency. The Gomal flows from Afghanistan southeast to the Indus River. The site was first identified by British engineers in 1898 and first work for a multipuropose project was approved in 1963. In the event, construction did not begin until Aug 2001. A Chinese JV was hired in 2002 to build the project but work was terminated in Oct 2006 after serious local security issues. In 2007 the Frontier Works Organisation was put in charge and Sinohydro was retained to complete the dam and power station. By year-end 2011, construction was said to be 98% complete with full operation scheduled for early 2013. The total cost of the project is about Rs 12bn. USAID provided funding for project completion.

Photograph courtesy of U.S. Agency for Intl Development
Posted 14 Jan 2012

Khan Khwar
Location: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Operator: WAPDA
Configuration: 2 X 34 MW Francis, 1 X 4 MW Pelton
Operation: 2010
T/G supplier: Dongfang
EPC: Pakistan Engineering Services Pvt Ltd, High-Head Consultants, Sinohydro
Quick facts: Work on the Khan Khwar HPP began in Jun 2003. It went online in Nov 2010 and was fomrally commissioned on 13 Jul 2012. The HPP is expected to produce 306 GWH/yr. This project was built on Khan Khwar (Nullah), a right bank tributary of the River Indus near Besham Town in Shangla District. The main components are a 46m high and 112m long dam, a 5km power tunnel and powerhouse and a switchyard. Khan Kwar conects to the grid via a 132/220kV tie-line. The project cost of Rs10.73bn including a Rs5.049bn foreign exchange component. The Islamic Development Bank provided a $30.8mn loan.

Jagran-I
Location: AJK
Operator: AJK Hydro Electric Board
Configuration: 5 X 6 MW Pelton
Operation: 2000
T/G supplier: Neyrpic, Alstom
EPC: Cegelec, Skansa, Compelex France, Sogreah
Quick facts: Jagran-I is on Jagran Nullah, a right bank tributary of the Neelum River. The run-of-river power station is 17km upstream of the confluence with Neelum River and at a road distance of 90km from Muzaffarabad. The project cos Rs 4,400mn of which Rs 1912mn was arranged by Banque Indosuez and insured by COFACE, SEK 219mn was arranged by Nordic Investment Bank and Banque Indosuez Sverige and insured by EKN, and Rs 1543mn was allocated from the provincial government. The plant was commissioned on 23 Oct 2000 after 4+ years of construction. Owners engineers were MM Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd and National Engineering Services. Jagran-I was one of several AJK Hydro facilities damaged by torrential rains and heavy flooding in Jul 2010.

Photograph courtesy of Agence Française de Développement
Posted 2 Feb 2013

Tarbela
Location: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Operator: WAPDA
Configuration: 10 x 175-MW, 4 x 432-MW Francis
Operation: 1977-1993
T/G supplier: Hitachi, DEW, DB Sulzer, CGE, SZEW, ABB, Siemens
EPC: Campenon-Bernard, CT Main, Descon Engineering, National Engineering Services
Quick facts: After the conclusion of the Indus Basin Treaty with India in 1960, work was started on the massive, 16-component Indus Basin Project (IBP). The largest rock and earthfill dam in the world was built in 1974 on the Indus River at Tarbela. The 148m high, 3000m long dam has two gated spillways and five tunnels that provide irrigation releases and water for power generation. Tarbela was the last facility to be built under the Indus Basin Settlement Plan and generates around 15 TWh/yr. Three 450-MW units are in planning for the site.

Warsak
Location: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Operator: WAPDA
Configuration: 6 X 40-MW Francis
Operation: 1960-1981
T/G supplier: DEW, CGE
EPC: Acres, National Engineering Services, Angus Robertson
Quick facts: Warsak is on the River Kabul 30km from Peshawar and 60km northwest of Tarbela Dam. The project was financed by the Canadian Government as part of the Colombo Plan. The 250ft high, 460ft long concrete gravity dam has a nine-gate spillway . The first phase consisting of the dam, an irrigation tunnel, four T/G sets, and a 132kv transmission system was completed in 1960 at a total cost of Rs.394.98mn. Two additional generating units were added in 1980/81 at a cost of Rs.106.25mn. Warsak Reservoir is silted up and there is almost no available storage, meaning the plant is managed as a run-of-the-river project. From October to March, the Warsak power station runs at less than half capacity.