HETAUDA: The two production units of Kulekhani hydro project will be shut down for two weeks starting today for repair works. The turbines of production houses one and two will be shut for the repair works. Kulekhani I produces 60 MW of power while the second produces 32 MW.
However, Nepal Electricity Authority informed that it would not affect the load shedding hours. Chief of Kulekhani I Sachhinanda Mishra informed that the water level might increase by one metre in Mansarobar after the repair works was finished. The water level was 93.3 metres in Mansarobar on Tuesday.
According to Mishra, they had to dry the penstock pipe to repair the inlet valve.
 Mishra said, “This is the first time we are repairing the turbines after it was assembled in 1982.”  He informed that senior technicians of the NEA along with two Japanese technicians would be involved in the maintenance work.
He added that the shortfall of power in the national transmission would be balanced by the load supply balance as per the necessity.

KATHMANDU, June 1: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is under tremendous pressure to take an immediate decision regarding a 250-MW power purchase from India. A decision in this connection, according to NEA sources, would have to be taken within the next two weeks as the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India is becoming ´impatient.´

“A bold decision has to be taken in this regard within two weeks as we are already facing pressure from PTC,” an NEA official told Republica.

NEA is currently undertaking an impact study for the power purchase, which may range anywhere between 200 MW and 400 MW on a long term basis, with the power to be made available by April 2012, the official said.

A high-level agreement between the two countries is also likely before the purchase deal materializes.

“We have said for quite some time now that an agreement on the grid system at government-to-government level should be in place for the project to materialize soon. The government of Nepal can even request the Indian government to construct the 39 km transmission line on the Nepal side of the Dhalkebar-Muzzafarpur corridor,” the source added.

The project is contingent upon completion of the high voltage cross-border transmission lines. As per the proposal, India will construct 140 km of transmission lines up to the Nepal border and Nepal should construct the 39 km this side of the border.

The cost of the proposed project is estimated at Rs 16 billion. Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), which had taken the initiative for development of the Indo-Nepal transmission project, is now facing difficulty getting the project financed. Two joint venture companies - Cross Border Power Transmission Company Pvt. Ltd. and Power Transmission Company Nepal Ltd. - were incorporated for implementation of the project.

Asked to comment on the issue, PTC officials said that they are still waiting for a response from NEA. “NEA has not responded to the proposal yet. We are waiting for a final answer soon,” Harish Saran, Vice-President of PTC, told Republica.

500 MW tale:
Meanwhile, the much-talked about import of 500 MW of power from India has turned out to be just rumor, as NEA had never approached PTC with such a proposal.

“PTC has not been approached for the 500 MW power purchase,” an Indian embassy official confirmed.

NEA first corresponded with PTC in October 2008 for the import of 200 MW from India for a period ranging from five to 25 years. PTC then proposed 200 MW for five to 15 years. The cost quoted was IRs 4.50 for five years and IRs 3.25 for 15 years.

“All talk of 500 MW for a period of 25 years has been limited to date to the Internal Development Board of NEA. We never made a formal request in that regard to PTC,” the NEA official said.

KATHMANDU, May 16 - With rivers witnessing a slight increase in discharge due to sporadic rainfall, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to marginally reduce power outage hours from next week, an official said on Friday. The cut in outage hours is yet to be worked out.

On April 17, the state-owned power monopoly had brought down daily power outage to 12 hours from 16.
According to the NEA official, the 144-MW Kali Gandaki ‘A’ project is generating about 100 MW during peak hours, up from 65-70 MW a few weeks ago.

The 70 MW Mid-Marshyangdi Hydro Electri-city project has been operating at full capacity for over a month during peak hours, while water level in the 90-MW Kulekhani Reser-voir, the only storage type hydro power project in the country, has also increased due to precipitation.

However, as the rain is intermittent and less intense, power generation is likely to fluctuate in the coming days if there is no rainfall. NEA said this will ultimately affect power generation.

Source: Ekantipur/May 16

Construction works of tunnel and powerhouse of the 14-MW Kulekhani Hydroelectricity Project III have been intensified after the project garnered support from local people and political parties.

“We have completed about 10 per cent of the total construction works of the project,” said Shyam Sundar Shrestha, chief of the project.

Located at Bhainse Village Development Committee (VDC) of Makawanpur district, the project was started in 2008.

Shrestha said that the project would be completed on time if the state mechanisms, locals, stakeholders’ committee and political parties extended their support to it.

The project aims to take water of the Kulekhani reservoir to the powerhouse after the Kulekhani I and II use the water.

In the beginning, the project had thought of taking water from the local Rapti river as well. But it has yet to decide on it.

The 2.3 billion project includes 75 per cent of shares of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), while the government owns the remaining shares.

A Chinese construction company– Sino Hydro Corporation– has undertaken the project construction works.

According to Shrestha, 400-metre long tunnel has been constructed so far.

But due to abundance of underground water, the tunnel construction works of the Project II have not been going smoothly.

The project has received permission to cut down 250 out of 500 trees. “We are in the process of taking permission to fell down rest of the trees,” he said.

The NEA had wanted to develop the project to generate 45 MW of electricity, as it hoped to receive assistance from the Government of Japan. But when NEA failed to get the Japanese support, it started to work just to generate 14 MW.

The project will have completed by 2012. The project has provided 26 families of Sanutar with compensations.

 The Rising Nepal/By Ram Mani Dahal, Bhainse