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A 1,000 MW run-of-the-river hydroelectric project under construction on the Marusudar river in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir.
The Pakal Dul Hydroelectric Project is a 1,000 MW run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme under construction in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. It is being built on the Marusudar river, a tributary of the Chenab, and comprises a 167-metre-high concrete-face rockfill dam with an underground powerhouse. It is being developed by Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited, a joint venture between NHPC Limited and the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. On completion it is expected to generate around 3,330 million units of electricity a year.
Type: PhenomenonCapacity — 1,000 MW (1 GW), configured as a run-of-the-river scheme.
Location — Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir.
River — the Marusudar, a tributary of the Chenab.
Dam — a 167-metre-high concrete-face rockfill dam.
Powerhouse — underground, with four Francis turbine units of 250 MW each.
Net head — 397.3 metres.
Expected annual generation — around 3,330 million units.
Developer — Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPL), a joint venture of NHPC Limited and the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation, in which JKSPDC holds a 49% stake.
Frequency: Hydroelectric projects on the Chenab and the Indus Waters Treaty appear regularly in UPSC Prelims geography and Mains GS Paper 2.
A storage or reservoir project impounds a large volume of water behind a dam and releases it as required, which gives operators control over when power is generated but also alters the river's flow to those downstream. A run-of-the-river project uses the natural flow of the river with little or no long-term storage, generating power as the water passes. It produces less on-demand flexibility and its output varies with the season, but it does not substantially change the total volume or timing of water reaching downstream users. That distinction is the reason the category matters legally as well as technically on the rivers of the Indus system.
A storage project is a bucket you fill and pour when you choose. A run-of-the-river project is a waterwheel in a stream — it turns when the water flows and stops when it does not.
The Chenab, along with the Indus and the Jhelum, is one of the three Western Rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, brokered by the World Bank. The three Eastern Rivers — the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej — were allocated to India. On the Western Rivers, India retains certain non-consumptive rights, including the construction of run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects subject to design conditions specified in the Treaty. This is why hydro development in the Chenab basin, including Pakal Dul, is conceived as run-of-the-river rather than as large storage schemes, and why such projects have periodically been the subject of technical objections and dispute-resolution proceedings between the two countries.
1,000 MW (1 GW)
Four Francis units of 250 MW each
167 metres, concrete-face rockfill
397.3 metres
About 3,330 million units
Marusudar, a tributary of the Chenab
Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir
49%
Pakal Dul — 1,000 MW run-of-the-river project, Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir.
Built on the Marusudar river, a tributary of the Chenab.
167-metre concrete-face rockfill dam with an underground powerhouse.
Four Francis turbines of 250 MW each; net head 397.3 metres.
Around 3,330 million units of annual generation expected.
Developer: Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited — NHPC and JKSPDC joint venture, JKSPDC holding 49%.
The Chenab is a Western River under the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960.
On the Marusudar river, a tributary of the Chenab, in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
1,000 MW, generated through four Francis turbine units of 250 MW each, with expected annual generation of about 3,330 million units.
Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited, a joint venture between NHPC Limited and the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation, in which JKSPDC holds a 49% stake.
The Chenab is a Western River under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. India retains non-consumptive rights on these rivers, including run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects built to the design conditions the Treaty specifies.