ABSTRACT
The emerging energy crisis is affecting almost everyone in the world. In order to meet energy demands, efforts are being made to harness renewable energy resources. Fossil fuel reserves are depleting, and global warming is caused by the combustion of fossil fuels. Pakistan, with a population of over 220 million people, has been facing an energy shortage for the past two decades due to increased population and industrialization. In Pakistan, hydroelectric energy has been meeting most of the energy demands. When done correctly, hydropower is low-cost, has a little negative environmental impact, and provides numerous economic benefits. In most hydropower generation plants; tunnels are designed to carry water. Several road tunnels have been built in the country’s northern region recently, near mountain peaks and bodies of water. The authors propose an innovative use of an existing road tunnel for water conveyance. The hybrid tunnel will result in significant cost savings compared to constructing a tunnel for a hydroelectric facility. The water that runs through the tunnel can also be used to generate power for the tunnel operations, which contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, the outflowing water can be used for irrigation of agricultural fields. The proposed innovation can be implemented at 1.3 kilometers long Tunnel No. 1 on the Swat Motorway, located close to the Swat River. In this research, the authors will perform a detailed investigation study for the tunnels at Swat Motorway to see the feasibility to use existing tunnels traffic and water conveyance.
