Daily Times

Chairman WAPDA Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) visited Warsak Dam located on River Kabul, 30 Km from Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Warsak Dam is Pakistan’s first ever multipurpose mega project, completed in 1960. At present, WAPDA is executing 2nd Rehabilitation Project of Warsak Hydel Power Station to regain its original power generation capacity of 243 MW from the existing 193 MW by rehabilitating the civil structures and modernising the electro-mechanical equipment.

The Chairman had a detailed visit of the dam, spillway and mechanical workshop. He also reviewed rehabilitation works being carried out in the hydel power station. The Chairman also inaugurated newly-established sediment analysis laboratory during his visit. Member Power WAPDA Jamil Akhtar, GM (HRD) Brig Hamid Raza (Retd), GM (Security/Admn) Brig Muhammad Tufail (Retd), Chief Engineer Warsak Hameed Ullah Khan and Project Managers of the Consultants and the Contractors were also present on the occasion.

During a briefing, the Chairman was informed about the progress achieved so far under the 2nd Rehabilitation Project, which is likely to be completed in early 2026. In addition to the grant by the European Union to the tune of 4.5 million euros, French financial institution AFD is providing 40 million euros, German financial institution KFW 40 million euros and European Investment Bank (EIB) 50 million euros as loan for the project. The 2nd Rehabilitation Project will add 50 MW to the existing power generation capacity, enhancing it to 243 MW. Annual energy from Warsak Hydel Power Station will also surge to 1.144 billion units with an addition of 169 million units. Life of the Hydel Power Station will also increase by 30 to 40 years.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman urged upon the project team to accelerate the pace of work for completion of the 2nd Rehabilitation Project without further delays. The 2nd Rehabilitation of Warsak Hydel Power Station is a component of clean, green and least-cost energy generation plan, WAPDA is implementing on priority. Under this two-pronged plan, WAPDA is not only constructing new mega projects like Diamer Basha Dam, Mohmand Dam and Dasu HPP etc but also rehabilitating its aged hydel power stations to make utmost benefit of water and hydropower resources for sustained economic growth in Pakistan.