General Electric (GE) has taken up the refurbishment work of the Mangla hydropower plant which will be completed by 2023. According to the reports, once done, the plant will generate 1,300 megawatts of electricity, increasing the overall capacity by 35%.
The Chief Executive officer (CEO) of GE Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan told that the overall cost of the project will be Rs 15 billion.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and French development agency will jointly fund the project, the reports add.
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The dam was built in 1967 with 10 units capable of generating 100 megawatts each. The units had a useful life of thirty years which could be extended to 35 years. The dam crossed its useful life limit a long time ago, however, it is still generating electricity as per its initial capacity.
The CEO told that after the upgrade the dam will be able to generate 1,300 MW of electricity up from the current 1,000 MW using the same amount of water.
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General Electric is looking to strengthen its foothold in the market by generating 40% of Pakistan’s total electricity. The CEO says;
Pakistan’s generation capacity will stand at around 35,000MW by 2019; of which 14,000MW would be generated through GE equipment.
He further added that the gas-fired power plants initially had some “teething problems” but are now operating at the full capacity.
