Following the successful completion of restoration efforts within the tail race tunnel, the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) has recommenced its electricity generation operations. The generation of electricity from NJHP was suspended in July 2022 due to a blockage in the tail race tunnel stemming from the collapse of a section of the tunnel.
The contract for the remedial work at NJHP was entrusted to China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) by WAPDA. Operating tirelessly day and night, CGGC efficiently executed the project, successfully reinstating power generation at NJHP.
Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, the Federal Minister for Water Resources, paid a visit to NJHP on Wednesday, where he ceremoniously reinstated electricity generation by pressing a button. Additionally, he unveiled a commemorative plaque to signify the project’s renewed electricity generation.
“The remedial works were carried out day and night under the supervision of the consultants and guidance from the International Panel of Experts,” reads the WAPDA statement, adding that the completion of remedial works led to the resumption of electricity generation from the project. Currently, NJHP is providing 969 MW to the National Grid. Before the suspension of power generation, NJHP had provided more than 18 billion units of electricity to the National Grid.
Neelum Jhelum is a run-of-the-river hydropower project that started electricity generation in April 2018. It envisages the diversion of the Neelum River through a system of tunnels having outfall into the Jhelum River. The Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project has been constructed in very difficult mountainous terrain, while 90 percent of the project is underground. The project consists of a dam, a 51.7 km long underground waterway system comprising a 48.2 km headrace tunnel and a 3.5 km tailrace tunnel, an underground powerhouse, and a switch yard. The project has an installed generation capacity of 969 MW with four generating units of 242.25 MW each.
