Electricity Generation Starts from Setikhola Project; Transmission Line Planned for Bheri-Babai

Kaski, Nepal – The 22-megawatt Setikhola Hydropower Project, which was completed in Pokhara Metropolitan City-33 of Kaski, has started generating electricity.

The project, promoted by Setikhola Hydropower Limited, was started in Mangsir 2078 BS. After the technical team of the Nepal Electricity Authority inspected and tested the project, the generated electricity started flowing into the national transmission system as a test, informed the promoting company director Deepak Baral.

According to him, the project will initially be in a test period of 15 days. After that, regular commercial production will begin. During that period, the generated electricity will be fed into the Nepal Electricity Authority system, and technical testing of the project and equipment will be conducted.

The project had aimed to start production since last Mangsir. However, it is said that the completion was delayed due to delays in the approval process of the forest area related to the construction of the transmission line. According to Director Baral, it took time to get the necessary approval as three of the five towers built for the transmission line are located in the forest area.

⚡ Project Details and Infrastructure

The dam of the Seti Khola Hydropower Project has been constructed in Tiklang, Pokhara-33. From there, water is transported to the power house in Lower Punditar through a 3,106-meter-long tunnel. Two turbines of 11-megawatt capacity have been installed here.

An investment of Rs 5.5 billion has been made in the project. Once the project is commercially operational, preparations are underway to issue initial public offerings (IPO) to the general public within the next fiscal year.

Hydropower projects of various capacities are currently under construction on the Seti River. The 25-megawatt Seti River Hydropower Project, promoted by Vision Lumbini Energy Company since last year, has already produced commercial electricity. Currently, half a dozen projects are in the initial stages of construction and some are under construction.

A 132 kV transmission line is being constructed to connect electricity generated from the Bheri-Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project to the national grid.

🔌 Transmission Line for Bheri-Babai Diversion Project

Kankrebihar, Surkhet – A 132 kV transmission line is to be constructed to connect the electricity generated from the national pride Bheri-Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project to the national transmission system.

The electricity generated from the project will be connected to the Kohalpur-Surkhet 132 kV transmission line constructed by the Electricity Authority. For that, a 1.7 kilometer 132 kV transmission line will be constructed.

The aim is to provide irrigation facilities by diverting the water of the Bheri River to Babai and generating about 46.8 megawatts of electricity from it.

The proposed transmission line will have nine towers. Out of these, three will fall in the main area of Bardiya National Park and the remaining six will fall in the buffer zone of the park.

The jurisdiction of the transmission line will be 18 meters. Bheriganga Municipality-5 of Surkhet and Bardiya National Park will be affected due to the transmission line. The project is preparing an environmental impact assessment report and has requested for necessary suggestions.

📊 Bheri-Babai Progress at 70 Percent

The goal is to provide irrigation facilities to about 51,000 hectares of land in Banke and Bardiya for twelve months by diverting the water of the Bheri River into the Babai River through a 12-kilometer-long tunnel.

So far, the physical progress of the project is 70 percent and the financial progress is 57 percent. The remaining work will take another three years to complete, informed Hari Bahadur Thapa, the project's information officer.

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha had inspected the project site a few days ago after the expected progress was not made. He had directed to speed up the construction process.

The tunnel construction work of the project has been completed. Civil construction work, hydro-mechanical and electro-mechanical work is ongoing. The pre-approval process for the environmental impact assessment of the transmission line construction work has begun.

📊 Nepal Rastra Bank Foreign Exchange Rates for Today

Kathmandu, Nepal – The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has published the official foreign exchange rates for today.

According to the central bank, the buying rate for one U.S. dollar (USD) has been set at NPR 152.60, while the selling rate is NPR 153.20.