Chinese Sino Hydro entrusted civil and hydromechanical work of 100 MW Tamakoshi-5

KATHMANDU: The Chinese company Sino Hydro Corporation Limited has been entrusted with the construction of the 100 megawatt Tamakosi-5 hydropower project.

Sino Hydro was selected based on the economic evaluation conducted by Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited. Binod Bhandari, the chief executive officer of the company, said that Sino Hydro was selected because it had submitted the lowest bid.

Four companies applied for the contract issued for the construction of the project. In which Sino Hydro and China Gejuwa Company Limited passed the technical proposal. The assessment was also affected for some time because China First Highway Engineering Corporation Limited filed a complaint saying that it was not passed in the technical proposal.

It is the same company that completed the construction of the Upper Tamakosi Hydropower (456 MW) civil structure. Upper Tamakosi is among the largest hydroelectric project completed in Nepal.

This project is going to be constructed under the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) model. In such a model, the construction company should be more responsible. Detailed design, procurement, construction to operation should be done.

The project is going to be built in two parts. In the first part, civil structure and hydro mechanical works are going to be done. The second one will be electromechanical work. A transmission line will be constructed to connect the generated electricity to the national transmission system.

It is a cascade project of the Upper Tamakosi Hydroelectric Project. Therefore, water from the upper Tamakosi tailrace will be diverted directly to the Tamakosi 5 tunnel. No need to keep creating headworks. As the Upper Tamakosi is a semi-reservoir hydroelectric project, it is also a project of the same nature.

For this project, about 8 kilometers of tunnel will have to be constructed. A powerhouse will be constructed at a place called Suridovan. The powerhouse will be underground like that of Upper Tamakoshi. The company claims that the environmental damage will also be reduced as most of the structures will be underground and there is no need to build headworks.

It is estimated that this project will cost 20 billion rupees. 70 percent will be raised through debt and 30 percent through equity. The Employees’ Savings Fund has already agreed to give a loan of about 13 billion rupees. Financial closure is yet to be done. Due to lack of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of the project, financial closure has not been completed.

Now the preparation work of the project is going on. Site office construction work is in full swing. It is planned to start the construction from next year after completing the preparatory work this year. It is planned to start commercial production after 4 years of construction.