Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has awarded a contract to Australian engineering and development consultant SMEC for monitoring and evaluation services of the Tarbela 4 hydropower plant extension.
SMEC, in association with its subsidiary, Engineering General Consultants (EGC), is to identify environmental, social and economic impacts; track indicators of the implementation schedule; develop a project monitoring information system; implement and supervise environmental, social and resettlement action plans; and introduce a management system to handle sub-projects and provide risk management and performance analysis.
The Tarbela 4 extension is part of the Pakistani government’s least-cost power generation strategy. The plant is a 1,410 MW addition to the existing 3,478-MW Tarbela plant, which is located on the Indus River.
HydroWorld.com reported in February that Voith Hydro of Germany and Voith Hydro Shanghai had been awarded a joint contract to supply electro-mechanical works for the expansion.
The World Bank is reportedly providing US$840 million of Tarbela 4’s $928 million pricetag.
WAPDA is currently soliciting bids to supply capacitance-coupled voltage transformers (CCVT) for switchyard Units 11-14 at the project.
WAPDA has been repairing and upgrading Tarbela. It called for bids in September to supply screw-type compressors along with an air receiver tank for controlling a power swing phenomenon, a variation in power flow, of hydropower turbines in the Tarbela hydro plant.
