WAPDA restores damaged Gomal Zam Hydropower Plant generating unit

• 5 hours ago (2026-06-26)
• David Flin

Asia 1042 Hydropower 162

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Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has restored the damaged power generating unit of Gomal Zam Hydropower plant and synchronised it successfully with the National Grid.

With Unit 1 now fully functional, Gomal Zam, located in South Waziristan, has been restored to its original installed generation capacity of 17.4 MW. Prior to this, it was running on at half its installed capacity of 8.7 MW for the last 8 years.

The facility consists of two units and is connected to the National Grid through the 132 kV South Waziristan-Tank transmission line. Both units became non-operational in October 2016 due to a technical fault that made the reverse power protection relay inoperative. WAPDA restored Unit 2 in June 2018. However, Unit 1 could not be restored for nearly a decade due to law and order issues in the area, which hampered restoration works.

Rehabilitation of Unit 1 finally began in April 2026, and was successfully completed after 80 days on 25 June, 2026.