Upper Tamakoshi expected to come online by ’16

DOLAKHA, NOV 16 -

Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (456MW) is close to completion, with only 30 percent of the civil works left to be done.

The completion of the national pride project is expected to reduce load-shedding significantly.

If the current pace of work continues, the project should start generating electricity by mid-2016, according to project officials. The country’s largest under-construction hydropower project is located 68km from Charikot, the district headquarters of Dolkha.  

“As the construction of the vital project is moving ahead without any obstruction, we expect it to become a reality very soon,” said Bigyan Shrestha, officiating chief of the project. “The project will help reduce the country’s load-shedding significantly.”  

A senior official of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), a key promoter of the project, said once the project completes, power outage hours would reduce significantly, particularly during the rainy season.

Besides Upper Tamakoshi, other NEA-promoted projects, including 14MW KulekhaniIII Hydropower Project, 30MW Chameliya Hydro, 60MW Upper Trishuli 3A and 32MW Rahughat projects are also expected to complete by mid-2016.  

And, the private sector projects are expected to add around 200-250MW,” said  the NEA official. “India will also supply an additional 150MW from 2015 as per the power purchase agreement between NEA and  the Power Trading Corporation India.” Currently, India supplies 180MW electricity.

“Despite these scenarios, the fact that most of the projects are run-of-the-river type and a huge leakage NEA faces mean all the generated power won’t be available for distribution all the time,” said the official.

The peak power demand is estimated to reach 1,653.7MW by mid- 2016, according to NEA, up from 1,201MW last year.

The project had to face a number of hurdles in the initial days as there was no access road to reach the project site. Moreover, it was difficult to obtain funds from local sources. Despite the difficulties, the project has made tremendous progress, Shrestha said.

According to UML leader Pashupati Chaulagain, the project will not be affected by any obstructions now. He said that as 85 percent of the planned 16-km tunnel has been completed, the project is likely to be finished on time. The construction of the main headrace tunnel and the vertical shaft is yet to be completed, and the project’s launch date will depend on how fast they can be built, he added.

Similarly, Bimal Gurung, head of the project’s regulation department, said that the construction work was progressing smoothly. Due to its geography, there were no major problems in the tunnel construction work.  

Land has been acquired to erect transmission lines and sub-stations, but the locals have been disrupting the construction of the sub-station.

The project is also looking for an alternative site to build the sub-station. The project’s estimated cost is Rs 35.29 billion, and Rs 21 billion has been spent so far. Most of the money has gone into the construction of civil works that include head works, tunnel and powerhouse.