Kathmandu, 4 Feb,2024. The construction of 220-132 KV substation in Bahrabise municipality of Sindhupalchok has reached its final stage. The final phase of the construction of the substation is going on, with a goal of completion within two months.
The power transformers to be placed in the substation have been connected. Power transformers of 220 ÷ 132 kV, 160 MVA, and 132 ÷ 11 kV, 5 MVA are placed in the substation. The installation of substation equipment based on Gas Insulated System (GIS) technology is at the final stage. All the equipment in the control room has been supplied to the construction site.
The connection of the devices is happening rapidly. The overall progress of construction of 220-132 KV substation is about 95 percent. Another 400 KV substation is also under construction in Bahrabise.
The power of the 102 megawatt Madhyabhotekoshi hydropower project built in Sindhupalchowk under the leadership of Chilime Hydropower Company, a subsidiary of Nepal Electricity Authority, will be connected to this substation.
The electricity generated from Madhyabhotekoshi will be connected to Bahrabise substation through 220 KV transmission line. The project has already constructed towers of 220 kV single circuit transmission line about 4 km long from the switchyard of its power plant to Bahrabise substation. About 2 km of transmission line wire has been stretched.
The project is unable to lay 2 km of wire due to the obstruction of the local residents of Palanti located in Bahrabise Municipality-3 and 4. At present, the construction of Madhyabhotekoshi hydropower project structures are completed and are being tested.
The authority is under pressure to complete the Bahrbise substation as soon as possible to prevent the electricity produced from the project from being wasted without being connected to the national transmission line.
A high-level team of the Authority, including Managing Director Kulman Ghising, Deputy Managing Director of Transmission Directorate, Dilghayu Kumar Shrestha and Deputy Managing Director of Project Management Directorate, Tara Prasad Pradhan, inspected the substation construction site on Saturday and instructed to complete the remaining works immediately.
The team discussed with the project management and construction professionals the problems encountered in the construction, the condition of equipment supply, the construction completion schedule, and the locals to remove the obstacles in the transmission line. Besides, the team also visited the Madhyabhotekoshi hydropower project and got information about the ongoing testing works.
Managing Director Ghising instructed to complete the construction of the substation within two months by increasing the manpower, as all the equipment have been supplied and some of the connections are in the final stage. The progress of the last phase of substation construction is satisfactory, the construction of new Khimti-Bahrbise and Bahrbise Lapsifedi (Kathmandu) transmission line has also reached the final stage, if there are no other problems, the construction will be completed within the next 2-3 months, so everyone, Let’s take the last initiative and try from our side’, Ghising said.
The construction of the substation has been delayed due to the weak performance of the joint venture of the Chinese companies Guangxi Transmission & Substation Construction and Shenzhen Clou Electronics, which received the contract for the construction of twelve substations, and the COVID-19 epidemic.
The authority has temporarily made an alternative arrangement for the electricity flow of Madhyabhoteshi. However, for that too, the construction of 220-132 KV twelve-phase substation is mandatory. The 132 KV single-circuit transmission line constructed by Shivashree Hydropower, the promoter company of the 22 MW Upper Chaku A hydroelectric project, is going to be doubled. The authority’s high-level team has requested that the work of the line to be constructed by Shivshree Hydropower from Lamosanghu substation to Bahrabise should be started immediately.
The company will have to lay seven kilometers of wires out of about 10 kilometers of lines, while about three kilometers of new transmission lines will have to be built from near Bahrabise Bazar to the substation. For this, all the equipment of the transmission line has been supplied. The foundations of 5 out of 8 towers have been laid.
The construction of the Tamakoshi-Kathmandu transmission line and substation has been started to flow the electricity of the hydroelectric project of Tamakoshi and Sunkoshi rivers and their tributaries to the national transmission system. Transmission lines and substations are being constructed with concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank.
Under the Tamakoshi-Kathmandu 220-400 KV transmission line project, a 42 km transmission line is under construction from New Khimti substation at Ramechhap to Barhabise. Out of the 118 towers on the transmission line, only 8 are still under construction. Among them, 7 towers are to be built in forest area in Sindhupalchowk.
1 tower near the new Khimti substation is not being constructed due to local obstacles. 30 km of transmission line wire has been stretched. The contractor entrusted with the construction of this section has said that if the problem is resolved, the work can be done within three months.
Similarly, a 46 km 400 KV double circuit transmission line from Bahrabise to Lapsiphedi in Kathmandu is also under construction. Out of the 122 towers on the 46 km transmission line, 4 towers are left to be constructed due to the obstruction of the locals of Lapsiphedi.
