The Mangla Refurbishment Project being implemented by the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) will increase the generation capacity of Mangla Hydel Power Station from 1,000 mega watt (MW) to 1,310 MW.
Official sources told APP that the Mangla Refurbishment Project would be completed in three phases with approved PC-1 amounting to Rs 52,224.3 million. On completion of the project, the existing installed capacity of Mangla Hydel Power Station would increase by another 310 MW with additional energy generation of 1,632 million units per annum, they said.
It is worth mentioning that Mangla Dam – the first-ever mega multi-purpose project in Pakistan comprising water storage and four power generating units of 100 MW each – was completed in 1967. Subsequently, units 5 and 6 were installed at the power house in 1974 and units 7 and 8 in 1981.
The Mangla Power House attained its maximum capacity, 1,000, MW in 1994 with an addition of units 9 and 10. Since its commissioning, the power house has contributed more than 210 billion units of low-cost electricity to the national grid.
The aging factor of the generating equipment and availability of additional water due to the raised Mangla Dam necessitated the refurbishment and up-gradation of Mangla Hydel Power Station.
The sources said there was a dire need of injecting low-cost hydroelectric power to the national gird to mitigate electricity shortages and reduce electricity tariff.
Therefore, it is imperative that Mangla Refurbishment Project be completed within the stipulated time frame.
The sources said the raised Mangla Dam filled to its maximum level of 1242 feet providing about three million acre feet of additional water for irrigation in addition to generating additional 620 million unit low-cost hydel electricity.
It is also worth mentioning that Mangla Hydel Power Station generated 6,496 million units of electricity in fiscal year 2014-15 and 5876 million units of electricity in 2013-14.
