The Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) has agreed in principle to construct another powerhouse of 375MW at Warsak in addition to the existing power station of about 250MW. Resultantly, the generation capacity of Warsak power station will rise to 525MW.

The decision to this effect was made in a meeting presided over by Wapda Chairman, Shakil Durrani here at Wapda House.

Wapda Member (Power), Muhammad Qasim Khan, Wapda Secretary, Muhammad Imtiaz Tajwar, representatives of the consultants for the project and other senior officers of Wapda attended the meeting.

Claudio Vissa, team leader of the consultants - a joint venture of RSWI, Canada and DEC, Pakistan - told the meeting that with addition to the new underground powerhouse, the Warsak power station will contribute more than 1.6 billion units of electricity to the national grid against the present contribution of about 0.9 billion units. This will result additional financial gains of more than Rs.6 billion per annum, he added.

Addressing the meeting, Wapda Chairman said that the new Warsak Hydropower Project is a component of the two-pronged strategy being implemented by Wapda on priority for optimal utilisation of the water resource.

Besides constructing new hydropower projects, rehabilitation and upgradation of the old hydel power stations are also being carried out under the strategy to help inject low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid, he added.

It is pertinent to mention that the existing Warsak Hydel Power Station is located on the River Kabul at 30 kilometers from Peshawar.

The project was completed in two phases. In the first phase four units having cumulative generation capacity of 160MW were installed in 1960, while in the second phase, two more units of 83MW were added in 1981, raising the capacity of the power station to about 250MW. After completing about 50 years, the generating units of the power house have deteriorated despite extensive repair and maintenance due to heavy sediments in the water of River Kabul.

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