The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has mobilized a contractor to implement the Balanch-Attariya Transmission Line Project under which the crucial 132 kV power line linking the country’s far western region to the national grid will be upgraded from single circuit to double circuit.

A single circuit power transmission system allows transmission of three-phase electric power while a double circuit system allows transmission of six-phase electric power, ensuring greater reliability and efficiency.

According to the state-owned power utility, the contractor Sigma Con was selected through a global tender. It dispatched workers to the project site two weeks ago, and is currently doing a study to find out the quantity of equipment that will be needed to execute the upgradation.

Sigma Con will take at least two months to complete the survey and present a report to the NEA. “After we approve the report, the contractor will start importing the equipment,” said Nava Raj Ojha, the NEA appointed project chief of the Balanch-Attariya power line. “The contractor plans to start the upgradation by the end of May.” It will start work on the 131-km power line from two points, according to Ojha.

After the improvement project, the power line will be able to evacuate around 180 MW of electricity expected to be generated by various hydropower projects in the region in the medium term.

As per the Rs300 million contract, Sigma Con has to complete the upgradation by February 2019. As a single circuit transmission line is already in place, the contractor will not have to erect new towers or face obstacles from locals. All that the contractor needs to do is string new cables between the existing towers.

The single circuit Balanch-Attariya Transmission Line came into operation in November 2017 and is currently transmitting electricity generated by the 30 MW Chameliya Hydropower Project developed by the NEA, and the 8.5 MW Naugad Hydropower Project developed by Api Power.

The transmission line project was slated to be completed by 2014, but various factors, including problems in acquiring private and forest land, pushed back the completion date. The single circuit power line was developed under the financial aid of the Korean government with infrastructure, including towers, able to support a double circuit system.

The transmission line connects Darchula district with the far western business hub of Attariya. Apart from Chameliya and Naugad, the power line will be vital in evacuating electricity generated by the 86 MW Chameliya Chhattisgad, 40 MW Upper Chameliya, 54 MW Kalangagadh and other plants that are under construction in the region.