Urja Khabar
Kathmandu: The 9.05MW Chepe Khola hydroelectric project, completed in Olang ward number 2, Ajirkot rural municipality Gorakha district has been connected to the national grid. The project, which is constructed by Ridge Line Energy pvt. Ltd connected to the national grid.
Pratik Acharya, an engineer of company informed that the project has been connected on national grid after completing civil structure, equipment and internal testing, from 6th January.
He informed that, the project has started testing before 5 months of commercial operations date (COD) which set by Nepal Electricity Authority.
According to the power purchase agreement (PPA), the project should have generated electricity by June 20203. However, the generation schedule is delayed by one year, reached in the month of June 2024 due to Covid-19.
"We are conducting the test project by connecting National Grid from the Saturday" he said to Urjakhabar, "NEA will have tested upcoming two weeks. NEA will consume electricity free of cost during this phase." The project will start commercial generation after the second week from (Magh) February.
The 33kV electricity is generated from the project, connected to the Kirtipur substation nearby the 19.91km from the project which operated by NEA. The necessary transmission line up to substation have been constructed by the company itself.
The head race pipe 3411 meter and 1195 meter penstock pipe has been constructed in the project. The total construction cost of the project is estimated as1.62 billion rupees. The 70% investment in the project is provided by Rastriya Banjiya Bank and 30% is equity investment.
The company started the on-site construction from the Mangsir 2078 (November/December 2021). Along with the project the company also invested 8.8MW Dudhpokhari Chepe hydroelectric project. This project is currently under construction.
