NESPAK undertakes Gulpur Hydropower Project

on 11/01/2023

Gulpur Hydropower Project has formally been inaugurated by Advisor to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan. Now, the Gulpur Hydropower Project is providing clean and cheap energy to the National Grid, it is stated by Managing Director Dr. Tahir Masood in a press communique on Monday. NESPAK along with MWH, USA has provided consultancy services as the owner’s engineer on this project.
The Project is sponsored by a consortium of South Korean companies led by Korea South-East Power Company which will operate the Project for a period of 30 years.
The plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric generation facility located on the Poonch River near Gulpur village in Kotli Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The Poonch river is one of the major tributaries of the Jhelum River and confluences in Mangla Dam Reservoir after 28KM. The site is about 167 km from Islamabad and can be accessed in all seasons.
The Project was financed by Multilateral Development Banks comprising the International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of Korea, and FMO Netherlands. Furthermore, the Project was supervised by NESPAK & MWH (USA) as owner engineer and Mott Macdonald (UK) served as the Lender’s technical advisor for the best quality of construction.
The Project is constructed by South Korean premier construction companies led by DL ENC Ltd. (Formerly Daelim Industrial Co., Ltd.) within the given timeframe despite facing challenges of flood in the Poonch River, highly security sensitive area and difficult accessible project site, etc. The Project was designed for an installed capacity of 102 MW.
The Project (started in 2015) was the first of its kind, which was developed in a national park having critically endangered species. The Plant has been generating electricity since February 2020 and providing clean and sustainable energy to the national grid with top-tier customized equipment.
High-quality materials have been used during the construction and supervised by world-class engineering experts. The Plant is earthquake-resistant, and its durability is meeting the maximum standard required for the hydropower Project.
Following to annual capacity test result conducted by CPPA-G, the plant generated 102.63MW exceeding the contractual requirement e.g 100.98MW.
Gulpur hydropower plant is a significant addition to the power sector of Pakistan from the investors of South Korea and provides an economical, renewable, clean, and secure source of energy to the country.n

No power generation company has a chief engineer! Senate committee summons, K-electric; Chiarman says power sector is completely destroyed

on 11/01/2023

None of the four power generation companies (Gencos) in Pakistan has any chief engineer! This shocking revelation came forth in a Senate Standing Committee on Power that met Senator Engr. Saifullah Abro in the chair in Islamabad.
The chairman said the power sector of the country has been destroyed; the transmission system is dead. There is not a single chief engineer in any of the four Gencos. ‘This is the funeral of Power Division.’
The condition of the power sector is that no technical employee working there, he maintained. “For God’s sake have mercy on the power sector,” Saifullah Abro remarked.
Not only that but also the committee was informed that SEPCO and HESCO do not have electricity.
Chairman Abro said that the power sector of the country has been completely destroyed besides a choked transmission system.
He was not pleased with K-Electric for its issues that are already the talk of the town. He remarked that K-electric is a black spot on the face of the entire power system.
He alleges there are big corrupt officers in the power sector and the power division is an accomplice in KE’s corruption. The government is unable to take any action against them. He said, “There is a dire need to bring NAB-like law in the power sector too.”
“Why don’t the high-level officials of KE come to the meeting” the chairman questioned. The committee was irked by the non-participation of CEO K-Electric.
The chairman said that the time of the KE has passed and the company has failed to reach the electricity purchase agreement from the national grid. Is K-Electric not under government control, Abro asked. He said that the power minister should come to the committee and give a briefing on the performance of KE.
The committee summoned CEO KE to the next meeting. Abro said that the committee has a lot of discretion in this regard. “If someone does not give importance to the committee, we have the power to order his arrest,” he warned.
The committee also took the issue of the constitution of BoDs of Distribution Companies (DISCOs). The committee was informed that under these rules, the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) recently reconstituted BoDs of four DISCOs (MEPCO, GEPCO, SEPCO, and HESCO) after approval from the federal cabinet.
The committee reviewed in detail appointment procedures and expenditures regarding BODs as well as minutely scrutinized resumes of BoD members. The committee showed severe concern regarding the appointment criteria of BoD members and constituted a sub-committee to review the matter in detail. Conflict of interest, in the case of many members, was observed. It was asserted that strict action against officers involved in the selection process must be taken. The committee directed the ministry that reconstitution of all BoDs must be pended until the inquiry is complete.

FFC suggests exclusive ‘Flood Management Authority’ in Pakistan

on 11/01/2023

Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has suggested that Pakistan needs a vibrant and exclusive Flood Management Authority (FMA) at the national level to deal with floods in the future.
The commission has written to the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) which leaped to play its due role by inviting a group of senior engineers for a brainstorming session so that the engineering community can play its due role in rebuilding the areas severely damaged by the floods caused by monsoon rains this year.
The commission says the proposed authority will deal with flood protection and management issues like the NDMA, being the exclusive authority responsible for rescue and relief matters after the disasters occur.
The commission further proposes the River Act be enacted in all the provinces and that existing land use regulations be implemented strictly in letter and spirit to avoid major loss of life and property in future floods.
Flood Plain Maps prepared under NFPP-IV are already in place and circulated widely among the provinces. These maps can help determine the extent of inundation and may be used for flood warnings in respective districts by the DDMAs. The maps indicate the areas that may submerge at certain flood levels/ river discharge.
It says the construction of dams in the Indus Basin can only help manage flood waters to pass safely.
Large-scale forestation in upper catchments of all the rivers would help not only in reducing flood intensity in upper reaches but also support combating climate change impacts.
Pakistan needs a vibrant and exclusive Flood Management Authority at the national level to deal with flood protection and management issues like the NDMA, being the exclusive authority responsible for rescue and relief matters after disasters occur.
Since its establishment, FFC has so far spared and successfully coordinated and implemented three Ten (10) years of National Flood Protection Plans (NFPPs). Under these plans, approximately 1232 No. Flood Protection and River Training Works costing Rs.16.68 billion have been executed throughout the country. Also under these plans, a number of Weather Radars, Flood Telemetry System Flood Forecasting & Warning System equipment, and other ground stations have been procured and installed for strengthening and up-gradation of the country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning System. This also includes a state-of-the-art Flood Forecasting & Warning System for Lai Nullah Basin (Islamabad & Rawalpindi), through Japanese assistance.
In the aftermath of the 2010 disastrous Floods, the Federal Flood Commission prepared Fourth National Plan (NFPP-IV) costing Rs. 332.246 billion, which was approved by CCI in its meeting held in May 2017. In line with the advice of MoWR/PD&SI Division, an Umbrella PC-I of Flood Protection Sector Project-Ill (FPSP-III) with a rationalized cost of Rs. 95.980 billion was prepared, which stands approved by the CDWP in its meeting held on 12 October 2020 for submission to ECNEC, which is still pending for approval of ECNEC due to non-availability of secured donor funding to the tune of Rs. 95.98 billion. The GOP needs to explore and decide on the source of funding at the earliest possible. Meanwhile, NFPP-IV and PC-I are being updated in wake of 2022 flood damages as per the PM directive and advice of the PD&SI Division respectively.
FFC is presently implementing the GOP funded Normal/ Emergent Flood Programme. It is a need-based program in which Provincial Irrigation Departments and Federal Line Agencies submit their emergent flood protection schemes proposed along main and other rivers, besides, hill torrents and flood flows generating local nullahs to the Federal Flood Commission keeping in view their priorities and allocation of funds under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) each year. However, this program is very much limited and is unable to address comprehensive flood management aspects.
Scattered emergent schemes play a vital role in the management of floods and prevention/reduction of damages to life, property, and infrastructure, however, due to inadequate budget allocation under PSDP, each year (minimal as compared to the Provinces & Federal Line Agencies demands) cannot address effective country level flood protection and management aspects.n

Multiple Formations of Heat Transfer Mechanism Engr. Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Iqbal

on 09/01/2023

The direct infinitesimal trade of active energy of particles (like atoms) or quasiparticles, (for example, grid waves) over the border between two systems is known as heat conduction. When an object’s temperature differs from that of another body or its surroundings, heat flows between them until they achieve the same temperature, at which point they are in thermal equilibrium. External processes can push fluid flow, or buoyancy forces can influence fluid flow (for example, in gravitational fields) when heat energy expands the fluid (for example, in a fire plume). The intensity move coefficient, the proportionality between the intensity motion and the thermodynamic main thrust for the movement of heat, are used to determine thermodynamic and mechanical heat transfer. Heat flux is a vectorial depiction of heat movement through a surface that is quantified. The term heat is sometimes used interchangeably with the term thermal energy in engineering contexts. This term comes from the historical concept of heat as a fluid (caloric) that may be transported by a variety of means, and it is widely used in layman’s language and everyday life.
The heat is transferred within and through the body in conduction. Heat transfer by thermal radiation, on the other hand, is frequently between bodies that are geographically distant. A mix of conduction and thermal radiation can also be used to transfer heat. Internal energy is transmitted between bodies via a moving material carrier in convection. Conduction in solids is mediated by a combination of molecular vibrations and collisions, phonon propagation and collisions, and diffusion and collisions of free electrons. Conduction occurs in gases and liquids as molecules collide and diffuse during their random motion. Conduction is the process of heat transfer from one place to another without the movement of particles, such as when placing a warm hand on a cold glass of water—heat is conducted from the warm skin to the cold glass, but little conduction occurs if the hand is held a few inches away from the glass because air is a poor conductor of heat. Steady-state conduction is an idealized model of conduction in which the temperature differential driving the conduction is constant and the spatial distribution of temperatures in the conducting object does not vary after a certain period of time.
Convective heat transfer, or simply convection, is the transfer of heat from one location to another through the flow of fluids, which is essentially the same as heat transfer via mass transfer. In many physical settings, such as between a solid surface and the fluid, the bulk motion of the fluid improves heat transfer. In liquids and gases, convection is the most common mode of heat transmission. Convection is commonly used to represent the joined impacts of intensity conduction inside the liquid (dissemination) and intensity transaction via bulk fluid flow streaming, while it is also described as the third form of heat transfer. Conduction and convection can be thought of as competitors for dominance in a body of fluid heated from beneath its container. Fluid traveling down by convection is heated by conduction so quickly that its downward movement is stopped due to buoyancy, while fluid going up by convection is cooled by conduction so quickly that its driving buoyancy diminishes. If heat conduction is very low, however, a big temperature gradient may arise and convection may be very powerful. At temperatures above absolute zero, thermal radiation is emitted by all objects due to the random movement of atoms and molecules in matter. Because these atoms and molecules are made up of charged particles (protons and electrons), their movement causes electromagnetic radiation to be emitted, which transfers energy away. The sun’s radiation, also known as solar radiation, can be used to generate heat and electricity. Thermal radiation – arriving within a narrow-angle, i.e. coming from a source a lot more modest than its distance – can be moved in a little spot by utilizing reflecting mirrors, which is taken advantage of in concentrating sun-based power age or a consuming glass, unlike conductive and convective forms of heat transfer.n

NESPAK Ranked on US-Based ENR Magazine Top Global Firms list.

on 09/01/2023

NESPAK, under the leadership of Managing Director Dr. Tahir Masood, has been ranked for the fourth consecutive year on ENR (Engineering News-Record) Magazine Top International/Global Construction Management/Program Management Firms list, published as part of the ENR Top International/Global Contractors feature in the August 2022 issue of ENR, a US-based ranking magazine.
The ranking has been published in the latest issue of the magazine and NESPAK has been ranked 13this year among the top 20 Non-US firms in total global construction management and program management.
NESPAK was envisioned by its founders as an organization free from foreign dependence and capable of delivering the highest quality in the field of engineering consultancy. It was envisaged as an institution that had to lead the consultancy market of Pakistan and compete abroad with excellence. Time has proved that NESPAK has succeeded in fulfilling its objectives to a large extent owing to the unprecedented struggle offered by its professional brigade who left no stone unturned to achieve their stated aims. At present, NESPAK is not only playing a lead role in the consultancy services for the construction of two mega hydropower projects i.e., Mohmand Dam and Diamer Basha Dam Projects. Till todate, NESPAK has provided consultancy services in 39 countries and has proved itself as an international player in the engineering consultancy world. — PR