Kathmandu, 24 August (H.S.):

The much-awaited 40-MW Rahughat Hydropower Project in Nepal’s Myagdi district has been completed and is now in the final testing phase before commercial power generation. The project was developed with a concessional loan from India’s EXIM Bank, technical involvement from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and construction by Indian company Jaiprakash Associates.

Promoted by Raghuganga Hydropower Limited, a subsidiary of the Nepal Electricity Authority, the project has completed its civil construction and equipment installation works. It has now entered the final stage of testing for electricity generation.

The civil construction contract for the project was awarded to Indian company Jaiprakash Associates (JP) in November 2017 at a cost of around 6 billion Nepalese rupees. The project was originally scheduled for completion within 45 months, but its progress was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, floods, landslides and shortages of riverbed construction materials. After the work could not be completed within the stipulated period, the contract was extended several times.

An agreement worth around US$10.29 million was signed with BHEL for the project’s electromechanical works. The project is being financed through a US$67 million concessional loan from India’s EXIM Bank, along with joint investment by the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Electricity Authority. It has been developed under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model.

The Rahughat project is expected to generate around 240.5934 million units of electricity annually. According to Project Managing Director Ganesh KC, testing of the dam, desander, tunnel and switchyard has been successfully completed. Testing of one 20-MW generating unit has also been completed, while testing of the second 20-MW unit has begun.

KC said testing of both units is expected to take around one week to 10 days, following which the project is expected to begin commercial power generation.

To connect electricity generated by the Rahughat project to Nepal’s national grid, the project will be linked through a loop-in-loop-out (LILO) arrangement to the 220-kV double-circuit Dana-Kushma transmission line under the Kaligandaki Corridor. Construction of the four required towers and the associated transmission line has also been completed. The switchyard constructed at the project’s powerhouse complex has already been operational for the past two months.

Myagdi District Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Subin Shrestha described the Rahughat project as a “gateway” for hydropower development in the district. According to him, 10 other hydropower projects that were initiated in Myagdi after the Rahughat project have also been completed.

The completion of the project, which had been awaited for nearly two decades, has generated considerable enthusiasm in Myagdi. Once commercial generation begins, the project is expected to add 40 MW of additional electricity to Nepal’s national power system.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar