On December 5, 2022, Pakistan time, the inauguration ceremony for the newly repaired Units 5 and 6 of the Pakistani Mangla Hydropower Station Reconstruction Project undertaken by China Power Construction was held in the town of Mangla in the Free Kashmir region. Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif attended the ceremony and unveiled the project. Sajad, Chairman of Pakistan Water Resources and Hydropower Development Agency WAPDA and other government officials and representatives of China Power Construction Project Department attended the ceremony.

Shabaz Sharif delivered a passionate speech at the ceremony, affirming the efforts made by the project owner WAPDA and various contractors during the construction process, and also expressed encouragement and expectations for the transformation tasks of other units in the next stage of the project.

Mangla Hydropower Project

According to reports, the Mangla Hydropower Station is located on the Jhelum River in Pakistan, about 64km away from Islamabad. The main purpose of the project is flood control, irrigation and power generation. The total installed capacity of the power station is 1000MW, and the installed capacity after renovation will reach 1300MW. The project adopts a parallel contracting mode, and there are as many as 9 subcontracting tenders. The P6+8 package undertaken by PowerChina will be implemented in July 2019. The scope of work is mainly the procurement and installation of electrical auxiliary equipment, including the repair of main transformer No. 7 & No. 8, generator outlet circuit breaker GCB and current-limiting fuse (3, No. 5 and No. 9 units), separated phase closed busbars, medium voltage cabinets, low voltage cabinets, factory transformers, cables, lighting systems, communication systems, monitoring and protection systems and other equipment. The renovation project of the Mangla Hydropower Station is the first large-scale power station renovation project in Pakistan, and it is also a key livelihood project in Pakistan, which has attracted much attention from the outside world.

The project lasted nearly 34 months from the beginning of the transformation to the official commissioning of the project, which has the characteristics of long construction period and difficult performance. Relying on its strong professional and technical level, PowerChina did its best to overcome problems such as interface connection and technical bottlenecks in the project implementation process. The successful restoration of this unit has laid the foundation for the smooth implementation of the transformation of the subsequent 8 units of the project, and has also accumulated valuable experience for the implementation of other Pakistani projects.

The renovation project adopts a parallel contracting model. Among them, there are a total of 10 units to be renovated in the P6+8 bid section, and the newly repaired units 5 and 6 have been renovated and are generating electricity. Since July 2019, the Central South Institute has undertaken work including the design, supply, installation, commissioning and trial operation of the electromechanical auxiliary equipment of the power station, and China Hydropower Seventh Bureau participated in the project implementation.

The power station can increase the electricity demand of 100,000 households and 2 million Pakistanis. It will also help Pakistan optimize its energy structure, reduce power generation costs, increase jobs, improve infrastructure, and make important contributions to local economic development and improvement of people's livelihood. Editor/He Yuting