The construction process of proposed 180 MW Kaligandaki Gorge Hydropower Project, which will have its structure in Mustang and Myagdi, has been moved forward after one and a half decades.

The process of construction of the project started after Triveni Energy Private Limited took over the ownership of Kaligandaki Gorge Hydropower from the promoter of the project, Hydro Solutions. The project was surveyed for the first time in 2063 B.S. with the aim of generating electricity from Kaligandaki river.

The dam of the hydropower project has been proposed to be constructed at Ghansha of Thasang Rural Municipality, Mustang and power house in Annapurna Rural Municipality-4 Narchang of Myagdi.

A 6 km tunnel will be constructed in the project.

During this period, various hydropower companies tried to advance the project, but it could not develop due to lack of investors. The Kaligandaki Gorge is the biggest hydroelectric project to be built in Myagdi.

During the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to China in June 2018, an investment agreement was signed between Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, the promoter of the project Hydro Solutions, and the representative of Yunnan Water Conservation and Hydropower at the Nepali Embassy in Beijing. But the project was stalled after the Chinese side withdrew from its liability.

Bijaya Karki, administrative chief of Triveni Energy, said that the process of construction of the project with domestic investment was forwarded after Triveni Energy took over the entire ownership of the Kaligandaki Gorge Hydropower Project last November.

He said, “We have been constructing projects, and we need the support of local residents and stakeholders who are affected by the project. We will start building the physical structure of the project within a year.”

According to him, the company has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Nepal Electricity Authority in February for the construction of the semi-reservoir project.

He said that the total cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 43 billion.

He said that after the environmental impact assessment, the construction of the project would be started after arranging investment.

Currently, the consultant of the project, Rupse Environment Solutions Private Limited, has forwarded the environmental and social impact assessment of the project.

Economic, social and cultural expert of Rupse Environment Solutions Mukti Dhungana informed that the supplementary environmental impact assessment of the project had reached its final stage.

On Friday, a team. including people’s representatives of Myagdi and Mustang and the heads of security agencies, conducted an on-site inspection of the project area.

The study showed that around 1.05 billion units of electricity would be generated annually from the project.

According to the company, around 717 million units of electricity would be produced in the rainy season and 338 million units in the dry season.

The project will generate 180 megawatts of electricity for six hours a day even during the dry season. Earlier, the Department of Electricity Development had given consent in principle to make the run-of-the-river project a semi-reservoir one.

The project has already acquired 300 ropanis of land in Narachang by paying a compensation of Rs. 30 million. The generated electricity will be connected to the substation of the 220 kVA Kaligandaki corridor transmission line constructed at Dana.

Source: The Rising Nepal