Tunnel construction of 102-megawatt Madhya Bhotekoshi Hydel completed

KATHMANDU: he construction of the 7,126-metre-long tunnel of the 102 megawatt capacity Madhya Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project in Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality and Bahrabise Municipality of Sindhupalchowk district has been completed.

Umesh Parajuli, senior civil engineer of the project, informed that the construction work of the tunnel with a length of 7,126 metres and a diameter of 5.7 metres was completed on Thursday.

He said that now the work of making slopes in the tunnel had started.

The dam area of the project is located in Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality-1 and powerhouse in Barhabise Municipality-5.

The average annual production of the project is estimated at 542.3 million units. Power purchase agreement (PPA) between the Nepal Electricity Authority and Madhya Bhotekoshi Hydropower Company Limited was signed on November 14, 2011.

The company had signed a loan agreement with the Employees Provident Fund on December 8, 2011 for the project under construction with 50 per cent equity and 50 per cent loan investment. Tractebel Engineering of Germany is the consultant of the project. The three construction companies, Guangxi Hydro Electric Construction Bureau, China for civil and hydro-mechanical, Andritz Hydro Pvt. Ltd., India for electro-mechanical and Energy AC JV for 220 kV transmission lines are working in the project.