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- May 3, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) declared that the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, which has a value of about Rs500 billion and is 969 megawatts, has been shut down entirely for inspection. According to a statement from Wapda, the decision was made in response to a serious operational problem that was discovered a month ago and caused notable pressure variations in the project’s headrace tunnel. It stated that after the issue is identified, a thorough strategy will be developed in collaboration with project consultants and foreign specialists to carry out corrective actions to resolve the problem.
On April 2, there was a noticeable abrupt shift in the headrace tunnel pressure. To monitor variations in the headrace tunnel pressure, the project management began operating the plant at a restricted generation of 530MW on April 6 to the consultants’ recommendations regarding the safety of the tunnel. Up until April 29, when additional instability in the tunnel pressure required a progressive drop in power generation, the facility, located in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, ran satisfactorily at this reduced capacity.
On April 29, at approximately 11 p.m., “an additional alteration in the headrace tunnel pressure was noted.” Following the project consultants’ suggestion, the generation was progressively decreased, however, Wapda stated that the pressure could not be maintained within safe bounds. Consequently, on May 1, at 6 a.m., the plant was closed to conduct a physical examination of the headrace tunnel and determine the cause of the decreased pressure, all while maintaining the safety of both the tunnel and the powerhouse.
Following a thorough consultation with consultants about the dewatering of the 48-kilometer tunnel, the intake gates at the dam site were lowered to facilitate the de-sander flushing process. To guarantee the safety of the tunnel, dewatering began from the power plant side on the same day and will continue intermittently. According to Wapda, the project features a 51.5-kilometer tunnel system built in a region prone to earthquakes and poor geology. There is a 48km headrace tunnel and a 3.5km tailrace tunnel. Ninety percent of the project is subterranean.
Due to significant cracks in its 3.5 km tailrace tunnel, the project was previously shut down entirely in July 2022. These flaws were filled over the following 13 months. According to Wapda, power generating resumed in August–September 2023 and reached its maximum capacity of 969MW on March 28. A week later, on April 2, “soon after the project was restored to full capacity by international contractors because of debris or cracks in the headrace tunnel,” inside sources informed Dawn, the headrace tunnel’s pressure dropped and power output reduced to roughly 400MW.
They said that although internal emergency procedures were attempted to restart the project by the project authorities, contractors, and Wapda management, the task proved more difficult than expected. Once Dawn requested proof of the incident, the authorities withheld the fault from even the government, causing the tailrace tunnel pressure to plummet. But as a precautionary measure to monitor the behavior of pressure variation, generation from the plant was confirmed to have been curtained on April 14 due to decreased tailrace tunnel pressure.
Along with around Rs37 billion in energy lost during repairs, maintenance, and testing over the next 20 months, the nation’s previous tailrace tunnel repairs cost nearly Rs6 billion. Regarding the losses, Wapda has reportedly already convened several high-level meetings and filed insurance claims totaling approximately Rs43 billion. The Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project was put into service in 2018 and has produced 19.83 billion units of electricity so far. Of that amount, 1.54 billion units have been produced since the tailrace tunnel’s restoration in August of last year. After a 21-year delay, the project’s construction started in 2002 and was finished in April 2018 despite numerous cost overruns and missed deadlines. Hired in December 2007, the China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) handled the principal construction work, which included building around 58 km of tunnels.