BEIJING, Mar. 13 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated the Tarbela 4th extension hydropower project in Tarbela, northwest Pakistan, on Saturday.
At the inauguration ceremony, Abbasi said the project will help alleviate the power shortage in Pakistan and drive the country's clean energy development.
According to the Prime Minister Office, with three units, the new extension is expected to generate 3.84 billion units of electricity annually, or the burning of one million tonnes of furnace oil.
This will meet the power demand of two million households in the country.
So far, only one unit of the Tarbela 4th extension hydropower project is generating power. All three units are expected to be put into use by mid-2018.
The construction of the 1410 MW Tarbela 4th extension hydropower started in Oct. 2013 by PowerChina Ltd.
The previous three projects have installed capacity of 3,478 MW with average annual power generation of 15 billion to 16 billion units.
Standing over the Indus River in northwest Pakistan, the Tarbela is Pakistan's biggest hydro dam.
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