Building of Upper Dordi to start after holidays

The construction of the Upper Dordi Hydropower Project located between Dhodeni and Phaleni village development committees in eastern Lamjung is scheduled to start after the Dashain festival. Building of Upper Dordi to start after holidays

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Prem Kumari Ghale

Published at : September 30, 2014

Updated at : September 30, 2014 09:29

Lamjung

The construction of the Upper Dordi Hydropower Project located between Dhodeni and Phaleni village development committees in eastern Lamjung is scheduled to start after the Dashain festival.

The developer of the 25 MW plant Liberty Energy Hydropower said that it planned to start building right after the festival as the financial closure has been completed. Financial closure refers to gathering the required funding to build the project.

Liberty said it had also completed a detailed project report and power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Nepal Electricity Authority besides obtaining a generation licence from the Department of Electricity Development.

The company has been speeding up land acquisition for the construction of a powerhouse, residential building and other necessary infrastructure.

Liberty’s director Rajendra Osti said all legal and official processes had been completed to start construction. “We have completed the necessary preparation for the construction of a tunnel too,” he added.

A dam will be built at Simigaun of Dhodeni VDC and water will be carried through a 2,639-metre tunnel to the powerhouse to be built at Malebagar. Two turbines will be installed at the powerhouse which will produce 12.5 MW each. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 3.49 billion and the per megawatt cost is Rs 140 million. The project’s promoter shareholders will put up 30 percent of the necessary resources. They have invested from Rs 500,000 to Rs 2 million each. The rest of the capital will come from loans. A consortium of nine banks led by Nepal Investment Bank is providing Rs 2.83 billion.

Besides the main developer, another company the Model Hydro Investment Group has also shown interest in investing in the project. “We have pledged to invest Rs 60 million in the project,” said Bhesh Bahadur Poudel, chairman of the group. As per the power purchase agreement signed with the NEA, the project will start producing power by October 2016. The electricity generated will be fed through a 132 kV transmission line at Udipur, Lamjung. There has been growing interest among investors to develop hydropower projects on the rivers and streams flowing through the district. Upper Dordi is one of the five projects being developed on the Dordi Khola alone. Four other projects with a combined capacity of 119 MW are planned to be developed on the river.