Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) achieved yet another landmark as the first unit (36 MW) of Golen Gol Hydropower Project Wednesday started electricity generation.

In what can be termed a historic development, Chitral has started receiving much-needed electricity from the project on trial basis, which is a significant step towards stable supply of electricity to the town and the adjacent areas, said a press release.

The Prime Minister will formally inaugurate Golen Gol Hydropower Project during the first week of February. Only the first unit of 36 MW put into operation today which will provide electricity three times more than needs of Chitral City. Surplus energy will be evacuated to the National Grid.

To mark the historic moment of electricity generation from the first unit of Golen Gol Hydropower Project, WAPDA Chairman Lieutenant General Muzammil Hussain (Retd) visited the project.

He congratulated the project authorities of WAPDA, the Consultants and the Contractors for achieving the landmark. He expressed the hope that Golen Gol Hydropower Project will usher in a new era of progress and prosperity in Chitral, besides stabilizing the economy by providing low-cost and environment-friendly electricity to the National Grid.

The project has been constructed on Golen Gol – a tributary of River Mastuj – near Chitral. The installed generation capacity of the project is 108 MW with three generating units – each of them having a capacity of 36 MW. The first unit has been completed, while the second and the third unit will be commissioned in March and May 2018 respectively.

The project will provide 436 million units of electricity to the National Grid every year. Benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs.3.7 billion per annum.