Following the inauguration by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, 76 megawatts of electricity generated from a unit of the total 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project under construction with domestic investment will be connected to the national transmission line from Monday.

Long waiting for the upper Tamakoshi project to comes to an end. Finally, 456 MW Upper Tamakosi project, Nepal’s national priority project, has successfully completed tunnel water filling last night.

The project has six units of 76 MW each. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is scheduled to inaugurate the project at 4:00 pm Monday virtually, said Ganesh Neupane, Spokesperson of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project.

Spokesperson Neupane said that the project is going to distribute the electricity generated from the first unit through the transmission line from Monday after completing electricity charge on the 47-km-long transmission line from Khimti to Gongar on Sunday afternoon.

The electricity will be connected to the 220 /132 KV substation at Phulasi in Ramechhap and distributed through the national grid via Dhalkebar, he said.

Neupane said that the second unit will be operational a week after the first unit generates electricity and all the units will generate electricity by mid-September 2021.

Last week Bigyan Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Ltd announced that the tunnel water filling of Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project has been completed successfully last night after observation for 48 hours at its final level(i.e.1987 masl), “ writes Bigyan Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Ltd in his Facebook wall.

“This is indeed a BIG MILESTONE for the entire project. Today, we are conducting an electrical SOAK test for the first unit and wait for 24 hours of observation prior to synchronization. Similarly, 220 kV transmission line is ready up to Dhalkebar Substation and final 220 kV line-in line-out arrangements at New Khimti Substation are likely to be completed within this week. This will pave the way for synchronization of the first unit (76 MW) to the integrated national power system (INPS) and will follow by further load tests. “

“We are thankful to the Contractors Sino Hydro, Andritz Hydro, KEC International and Consultant JV Norconsult- Lahmeyer for this achievement. We are also thankful to all board members (present and past), financers, all concerned government officials and all concerned stakeholders for supporting us to accomplish this national pride project,” writes CEO Shrestha.

Testing of the tunnel of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectricity Project successfully completed on Sunday. The project had started to fill the tunnel on April 29.

The 456 Megawatt national pride project was under construction for the last decade at Lamabagar of Bigu Rural Municipality of Dolakha district. It is the largest hydroelectricity project developed with domestic investment.

Initially, water was filled in the intake culvert and sedimentation pond and sent to the 8.4-kilometer long main tunnel and 1,165-meter penstock pipe.

Spokesperson of the project Dr. Ganesh Neupane said that the water was sent to the tunnel and pipe in nine steps. “A small amount of water was sent to the tunnel then stopped for 12 to 48 hours for the monitoring. All the structures and equipment are inspected minutely and thoroughly,” he said.

In the final stage, the tunnel was filled for 48 hours and there was no leakage. After that, the first unit is undergoing the shock test for 24 hours and a team of engineers is inspecting it.

The Nepal Electricity Authority is connecting the electricity generated by the Upper Tamakoshi Project to the national transmission line through a 220/132 kV substation at Phulasi of Ramechhap district. Currently, wire is being installed in four multi-circuit towers to take the energy to the substation.

The NEA has shut down the Khimti-Lamo Sanghu transmission line from Sunday morning to install the wires. The installation of wires will be completed in three days and after conducting other necessary tests, 76 MW electricity generated by the project would be distributed through the national transmission lines.

The project has six turbine units with a capacity of 76 MW each. The second unit will come into operation after a week of the commencement of the first unit. All units will start electricity generation by mid-November this year, said Dr. Neupane

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