Setikhola Hydropower Project starts production

KASKI:- The Setikhola Hydropower Project has started power production. Located at Pokhara Metropolitan City-33 in Kaski, the project has a capacity of generating 22 megawatts power.

The construction of the project, promoted by Setikhola Hydropower Limited, was started in Mangsir 2078 BS.

The electricity generated from the project began to be fed into the national transmission grid on a trial basis after a technical team from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) inspected and tested the project, said the promoter company’s director, Deepak Baral.

According to him, initially, the event will be in a trial phase for 15 days. After that, regular commercial production will start.

The electricity produced during that period will be fed into the NEA system, and the project’s equipment will be technically tested.

The project had aimed to start production since last Mangsir. But it is said that completion was delayed because of the hold back in the approval process for the forest area related to the transmission line construction.

Director Baral said that out of the five towers built for the transmission line, three are in forest areas, so it took time to get the necessary approvals.

The dam for the Seti River Hydropower Project has been built at Tiklang, Pokhara-33. From there, water is channeled to the power house in Tallopunditar through a 3,106-meter-long tunnel. Two turbines, each with a capacity of 11 MW, have been installed here.

The project has an investment of Rs 5.05 billion. Once the project is operational commercially, preparations are being made to issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to the general public within the next fiscal year.

Various hydropower projects of different capacities are currently being built on the Seti River.

Since last year, the 25-megawatt Seti River hydropower project promoted by Vision Lumbini Energy Company has been commercially generating power. Currently, about half a dozen projects are in their initial construction phase, and a few are under construction.