Neelum Jhelum plant’s closure: Consumers pay Rs 350m daily

The closure of the Neelum Jhelum power plant puts an additional daily burden of Rs 350 million on power consumers as a result of the increased reliance on expensive fuel-based power plants.

During a meeting with the CEO of the 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) made this statement.

The power regulator expressed grave concern over the closure of a plant that incurred a daily cost of Rs 350 million on power consumers.

Before it was shut down, the power plant was producing between 950 MW and 960 MW during the summer’s peak demand to meet the rising electricity demand.

However, the management of the power plant had not been able to identify a technical fault to restore the plant’s operations as of yet.

The management of the 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project updated the NEPRA Authority on the latest developments regarding the plant, which has been non – operational since July 6, 2022, due to a technical fault, according to a statement issued by the power regulator.

Wapda is unable to identify a fault in Neelum Jhelum Power Plant

The Project Management reported that their specialists are currently investigating the issue and will take corrective action once they identify the problem.

Chairman NEPRA, Mr. Tauseef H. Farooqi, and Member NEPRA, Eng. Maqsood Anwar Khan, instructed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Neelum-Jhelum HPP to expedite the restoration of the plant in order to connect it to the National Grid, given the plant’s significance as a reliable and cost-effective source of renewable power generation.

The power regulator expressed grave concern over the failure to restore the power plant’s operations.

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Earlier, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also held a meeting in which he expressed grave concern over the closure of the power plant.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also held a meeting in which he expressed grave concern over the closure of power plants and ordered the management to fix the problem in order to restore the plant’s operation as soon as possible and provide consumers with cheaper electricity.

Premier ordered to hire international institutions to conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the technical malfunction in the 969 MW Neelum Jhelum hydropower project and to take immediate action to restore plant operations.

The Neelum Jhelum power plant has stopped working due to a blockage of water in a tunnel spanning 3.5 kilometres, resulting in the plant’s shutdown and the withdrawal of 950 Megawatts (MW) of electricity from the national grid in the midst of protracted power outages.

According to an initial report, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) was unaware of the magnitude of the loss at this time.

The administration of the Neelum Jhelum hydropower project was pumping water into the tunnel in order to remove the water blockage.

There is a water blockage in a tunnel area of 3.5 kilometres, but Wapda officials are unsure of the exact location and extent of the damage.

The tunnel is used to pump water from Neelum Jhelum to a power plant to generate electricity, and water is then pumped from the power plant back into the tunnel to return to the river.