As restoration work in its tail race tunnel nears completion, the 969-megawatt Neelum Jhelum (NJ) hydropower project in LAHORE is poised to begin energy output by the end of July.
On Saturday, Engineer Lt. Gen. (Retired) Sajjad Ghani, Chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), visited the Neelum Jhelum power plant to conduct a thorough review of the restoration work done to strengthen the tail race tunnel and the level of readiness related to resuming power generation by the project.
The CEO, the PD, consultants, and contractors were all present for the inspection.
Electricity generation at the Neelum Jhelum run-of-river hydroelectric plant began in April 2018. More than 18 billion units of electricity were supplied to the national grid by the project before it was shut down last year due to the collapse of a portion of its tail race tunnel.
The Wapda chairman was informed by the restoration crew that the concrete lining of the tail race tunnel collapsed area had been completed. Lattice girders, rock bolts, and shotcrete were used to fortify the rest of the damaged sections of the 3.5-kilometer-long tunnel.
The tail race tunnel will be swept and cleaned beginning next week. After that, the tail race tunnel will be pressurized by filling with water, resulting in the production of electricity.
