The production of electricity at Tarbela Dam’s powerhouse has nosedived following the water level in the dam reached 1402 feet, which is called the dead level.
After the closure of 12 out of 17 units producing electricity, now only five units of the dam are functional.
These five units supply 455 megawatts of electricity to the national grid station.
The inflow of water in the dam stands at 17,300 cusecs while the outflow also stands at 17,300 cusecs.
Country’s average hydropower generation has reportedly dropped to 1100 megawatts after Tarbela Dam touched its dead level.
Against the WAPDA’s installed hydropower capacity of over 9400MW, currently an average 1100MW electricity is being produced. Both the major reservoirs including Tarbela and Mangla Dams have touched the dead levels which has resulted in significant drop in the hydel generation. The Chashma reservoir has also reached its dead level, said the official data.
Mangla Dam has already touched its dead level, with zero generation, while Tarbela is generating only average 440MW of electricity. The total peak generation of the WAPDA’s hydropower was approximately 2600MW during this week, while the average generation was roughly 1100 MW. Currently, Tarbela is the highest generating hydel power facility with average 440MW generation, followed by Ghazi Barotha 410MW, Warsak 61MW, while the remaining small power projects are generating the remaining MWs. The drying up of water in the major reservoirs to dead level will also increase the water shortage for the provinces to 30 to 35 percent for the remaining days of Rabi season.
