Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project all set to see resumption

ISLAMABAD: In a welcoming development, the 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project that has been non-operational since July 6, 2022, is all set to come on stream by making one unit of 242 MW operational on an experimental basis. The remaining three units would be rendered fully operational within days.

The tunnel has been filled with water with the required pressure to run the turbines for power generation at the rate of Rs9.1 per unit, a senior official of the Ministry of Water Resources told The News.

The Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project (NJHP) suffered a mammoth loss of Rs41.5 billion (damage of Rs4.5 billion in the Tail Race Tunnel and business loss of Rs37 billion) since July 6, 2022. According to official sources, “the project was insured therefore NICL (National Insurance Company Limited) and a group of Chinese companies --- will pay the full cost for the damage. They would also pay the business losses amounting to 90 percent of the total turnover of NJHP in a year. The project generates an annual business of Rs42 billion. The representatives of the insurance companies --- have collected the data and will soon release the first instalment of the total damage. The authorities claimed up to Rs42 billion in business losses from the insurance companies. The NICL has a 7 percent share while the group of Chinese companies have 93 percent share in the insurance amount for the project.”

The sources said “We tested the new equipment on Thursday night and ran the turbines with water pressure in the tunnel as per the protocols and SoPs for electricity generation. We have high hopes from the Chinese contractor--- M/s China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) that the project will fully be functional within days. “We will run the first turbine of 242 MW Thursday midnight 11-12 pm. The NPCC (National Power Control Cell) allowed NJHPCL management to run the turbine and the generated electricity would be absorbed into the national grid. NTDC was also alert to transmit the hydel generation from the first turbine of the NJHP.

The NPCC and NTDC officials also confirmed that all is set to run the project after a year’s pause and disclosed that new equipment has also been installed in the tunnel to monitor the tunnel, and the behaviour of the water as well as its frequency, from the inside. “Earlier there was no monitoring system in the tunnel.”

“Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif who gave the deadline to the WAPDA chairman to restore the project to the national grid in July is likely to visit the project for its formal resumption.” To a question, the official said that the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project generates an annual business of Rs42 billion. Depending on water availability, “in three months of the summer season, all four units (turbines) remain operational, three units operate in the other six months, while in the three months of winter, only one unit runs.”

According to the initial report about the tunnel disaster on July 4, 2022, when the plant was running at its full capacity (969MW), an abnormal increase in water leakage was observed in the powerhouse which was controlled through continuous drainage pumps. Upon investigation, high water pressure in the Tail Race Tunnel (TRT) was observed. Accordingly, on July 5, 2022, the project consultants concluded that the abnormal increase in TRT pressure and water leakages/seepage in the powerhouse were due to blockage in TRT. Considering the safety of the power structure and all other equipment/machinery, units were shut down gradually. Resultantly, the powerhouse was shut down on July 06, 2022. Immediately afterwards M/s China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), the contractor for the construction of civil works, was engaged to carry out remedial works. The firm was immediately mobilized to the site. A contract agreement was signed with it on August 5, 2022, and the work commenced on August 27, 2022.

The Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project was executed at the cost of Rs430 billion and it started functioning in April 2018 under the deep mountains in the AJK where the geology is neither predictable nor readable. Neelum Jhelum is a run-of-the-river Hydropower Project. Prior to the suspension of electricity generation following the damage, the project had provided more than 18.2 billion units of electricity to the National Grid.

The project is one of a kind as only 10 percent of the dam portion is on the surface while 90 percent is underground with a waterway system comprising 52 km of tunnels. The project generated electricity for four years at a cost of Rs9.1 per unit. The project diverts Neelum water through tunnels at Nauseri about 41 km upstream of Muzaffarabad and an outfall in Jhelum River near Chatter Kalas in AJK, where the powerhouse is located. The project generates 5.15 billion units annually and has so far contributed 18.2 billion units with annual revenue of Rs42 billion.