969 MW Neelum Jhelum Hydroelectric Project: Serious design flaws identified

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reportedly identified serious design flaws in the 969 MW Neelum Jhelum hydroelectric project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) with the Chinese company and has sought early rectification of the flaws, informed sources said. Business recorder.

The project was built at a cost of over Rs 500 billion with a delay of several years due to breakdowns, leading to its complete or partial shutdown periodically and has been unavailable since the first week of May this year.

A two-member committee comprising former federal secretary Shahid Khan and water resources secretary Syed Ali Murtaza is investigating the defects in the project as per the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who had also visited the project a few weeks ago to get an update.

Wapda begins inspection of head tunnel of Neelum Jhelum project

The Commission was also asked to ascertain the reasons for the delay in submitting the findings/report of the expert group, engaged in 2022 to find out the reasons for the blockage in the escape tunnel.

On June 28, 2024, a representative of the National Power Control Center (NPCC), the system operator (SO), stated during the public hearing on the FCA for May 2024 that hydropower production remained below projections due to the closure of 969 MW of the New Jersey hydroelectric plant. The financial impact of the closure of the New Jersey hydroelectric plant has been calculated at 55 billion rupees per year.

According to sources, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who paid a crucial visit to China in the first week of June, raised the issue of NJHPP with the head of Chinese companies China Energy/China Gezhouba Group which built the project.

“The prime minister raised the issue of serious design flaws in Neelum Jhelum hydroelectric power plant and asked them to rectify the defect to make the project operational as soon as possible,” the sources said, adding that the chairman of the Gezhouba Group Committee would investigate the matter and submit a report.

He further said that M/s Sinosure had increased the insurance excess due to late payment of IPPs, which was causing delays in the Azad-Pattan HPP.

On June 12, 2024, Chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Lieutenant General Sajjad Ghani (retd.), visited the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project. He reached the dam site (Weir) of the project located at Nauseri, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The President visited the dewatered shafthead tunnel to inspect and review any damage that may have occurred to the tunnel. He was accompanied by the Project Manager, Neelum Jhelum Consultants, James Stevenson.

The consultants, contractors and the project team briefed the President on the progress made so far. He was informed that the dewatering of the 48 km long head tunnel has been completed from the altitude of 1012 feet to 607 feet above mean sea level.

Subsequently, the inspection of the head canal tunnel began. The process of engaging international experts was also initiated, as requested by the Prime Minister during his visit.

According to WAPDA, the Neelum Jhelum hydropower project was built in a geologically weak and seismic-prone area. The decrease in pressure in the feeder tunnel led to the suspension of power generation from May. Before its suspension, the project had supplied over 20 billion units of clean and green electricity to the national grid since 2018. The project had also achieved the generation level of 1,040 MW.

Last week, some questions were sent to the spokesperson for responses, who noted that the questions were sent to the concerned districts. However, WAPDA did not send any response to these questions till the filing of this article.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024