In Six and a Half Years, Only 11 km out of 28 km Wire Stretch has been Completed

Kathmandu; The construction of the 28 km long Chilime-Trishuli 220 kV transmission line was started over six years ago, but only 11 km of the wire has been laid so far showing the cause of the geographical difficulty.

Targeting to evacuate electricity produced by the hydropower projects to be developed in the upper region of the Trishuli River Corridor, the project was incepted in January 2018. However, the work progress has been much delayed due to various reasons.

A joint team from Germany and the European Union conducted on-site monitoring of this project on Saturday. The representatives of the European Union and KFW Development Bank of Germany, led by Gisela Hammerschmidt, Asia Director of the German Ministry of Economic Assistance and Development, visited the site of the transmission line and substation construction and took a progress report.

Under the project, the construction of 220/132/33 kV Chilime Hub and Trishuli ‘3’B Hub Substations at Thambuchet in Amachodingmo Rural Municipality of Rasuwa and Pahrebensi of Kispang Rural Municipality of Nuwakot are in the final stage. Besides, construction of a 28 km stretches of 220 kV transmission line connecting Chilime Hub to Trishuli '3'B Hub Substation has also reached its final stage.

The Chilime-Trishuli transmission line and the Chilime and Trishuli '3B Hub substations are going to be constructed to evacuate the electricity of the hydropower projects under construction and to be built on the Trishuli River and its tributaries to the national grid. The US $ 30.9 million project is being funded by the Government of Nepal, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and a grant from the KFW Development Bank. Similarly, it includes concessional loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) established by the European Union.

Following the onsite visit, the team discussed the progress, problems, project completion date and possibility of further investment in the energy sector with the NEA and project management unit. Team leader Gisela Hammerschmidt said it was a great pleasure to reach the stage of completion of the project despite the risks it faced due to the difficult mountainous region. She urged the NEA to identify and propose the areas that need investment, indicating that they are ready to provide more concessional loans to Nepal's energy sector.

Likewise, the Managing Director of the NEA Kulman Ghising informed that they are is planning to complete and bring into operation the substation and the transmission line by the April-end. According to him, the overall construction was affected due to the difficulties in installation of towers in mountainous areas, transport problems, floods and landslides, poor performance of contractors, forest land use problems, obstacles from local people and the Covid-19, among others.

The transmission line stretches in elevations ranging between 680 meters and 2,600 meters above the sea level. A total of 33 towers had to be built in locations where there were no access roads. A separate access road has been constructed now to reach the place.

"In the past, investors have repeatedly expressed interest and concern about the delay in construction," Ghising said. "During the inspection, the team has expressed their content and appreciated the momentum of the work progress."

While instructing the project management, consultants and contractor companies Ghising said the project will be completed within the stipulated deadline. He directed the concerned not to delay the construction work, and to speed up the work by adding more workers. "The 111 MW Rasuwagadhi project is ready to go online. If we cannot build the line, we will have to waste the produced electricity," he added.

According to the project, the foundations of 65 of the 75 towers of the transmission line have been laid. While the foundation work of the remaining 10 towers is in progress, 59 towers have been erected and three are under construction. A total of 11 km of wire has been stretched and the work of pulling the wire is going on in the erected towers. Under the Chilime-Trishuli '3'B Hub transmission line, 20 km double circuit Chilime-Mailung section and 8 km four (multi) circuit line up to Mailung-Trishuli '3'B Hub have been constructed.

According to the project, a Korean company is leading the installation of a multi-circuit line to evacuate electricity of under construction 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project. The hydropower project will bear 60 percent of the cost of constructing the multi-circuit line. The Chinese company Pinggao Group Co Ltd is constructing the transmission lines and substations.