LAHORE: The Power House No. 3 of Satpara Dam project with an installed capacity of 2,360 kilowatts on Friday started power generation, said an official statement. The under-construction power house no. 4 with an installed capacity of 1.40 megawatts is also scheduled to go into operation by the end of this month. With completion of these two power houses, Satpara Dam Power Complex will attain the installed capacity of 17.36 megawatts. Power House No. 3 and 4 utilise the water used for running the power house no. 2, as a cascade system for electricity generation. It may be mentioned that power house no. 1 and 2 of Satpara dam project have been in operation since October 2007 and December 2008, respectively, and have contributed over 140 million units of low-cost hydroelectricity, providing much-needed relief to the local population. Satpara dam – the first-ever mega water and power project in Gilgit Baltistan - is located in the vicinity of Skardu town. The project consists of three components including a dam, irrigation system and a power complex comprising four power houses. The dam was completed in July 2010 and the irrigation system in 2012. The United States Agency for International Development provided a grant of $26 million to help complete Satpara dam project. The dam has a water storage capacity of 93,000 acre feet to irrigate more than 15,000 acres of land. The project is also providing 3.1 million gallons of potable water per day.
