ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved an additional financing of $390 million for the fif th extension hydropower project of Tarbela dam that will support the scaling up of the power generation capacity by adding 1,410 megawatts to the existing tunnel no. 5 of the dam.

The project will be financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), with a variable spread and 20-year maturity, including a six-year grace period.

This will be the first World Banksupported project in South Asia to be jointly financed with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which will be providing $300m and the Government of Pakistan $133.5m. The total cost of the project is $823.5m.ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has approved an additional financing of $390 million for the fif th extension hydropower project of Tarbela dam that will support the scaling up of the power generation capacity by adding 1,410 megawatts to the existing tunnel no. 5 of the dam.

The project will be financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), with a variable spread and 20-year maturity, including a six-year grace period.

This will be the first World Banksupported project in South Asia to be jointly financed with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which will be providing $300m and the Government of Pakistan $133.5m. The total cost of the project is $823.5m.The additional financing of the hydropower project will add low-cost electricity generation during the high-demand summer season.

The loan will finance the installation of a power house at the existing tunnel no. 5 that will enhance the total capacity at Tarbela to 6,298MW.

The tunnel is presently used to release water for irrigation only when the reservoir level is below the minimum spillwayoperating level and water releases from the existing power units is not adequate.

`Increased supply at competitive prices from tunnel no. 5 will support economic growth for all enterprises that use electricity, regardless of size or sector,` says World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Illango Patchamuthu.

`In addition to reducing load-shedding, it will also contribute to long-term energy security.The construction of the power house on tunnel no. 5 will run parallel to the ongoing work on tunnel no. 4.

The project also includes the laying of about a 50-kilometre-long transmission line for carrying additional generation at Tarbela to the national grid.

The objective of the extension project is to increase the electricity-generating capacity of Pakistan in a sustainable way.

The total cost of the project is $826 million, of which Wapda will finance about $124.5 million and the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) will provide about $8.6 million.

The remaining amount will be financed by the World Bank by providing additional finance under the extended project.

The hydro power project of tunnel no. 5 has two major components: power genera-tion facilities and power evacuation facilities. The major works included under the project are: modifications to tunnel no. 5 and building a new power house and its ancillaries to generate about 1,800GWh of power annually, a new 50km of 500kV double-circuit transmission line from Tarbela to the Islamabad West Grid Station for power evacuation, and a new 500kV Islamabad West Grid Station.

`In addition to maximising the use of existing facilities and meeting the power needs of the country, the project will also introduce a pilot floating solar power plant over a part of the reservoir area, says Masood Ahmad, the task team leader of the project.

`The successful completion of the pilot and its possible expansion over the rest of thereservoirsurfaceareacouldleadtoan additional generation capacity of 5,000MW of solar power.