Kathmandu, Oct. 7: Due to floods caused by heavy rains that occurred on October 3 and 4, 32 hydropower projects have been affected in 10 districts of three provinces.
According to preliminary data collected by the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN) as of Monday afternoon, 17 projects in operation with a capacity of 180 MW and 15 hydropower projects with a capacity of 338 MW under construction have been affected by the floods.
IPPAN President Ganesh Karki said that it was possible to prevent human casualties by issuing early warnings this year. “An agreement had been reached between IPPAN and the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology to exchange early warning of floods and to prevent loss of life by transmitting early warnings accordingly. Due to this, we circulated early warning of floods and it helped to prevent human casualties,” he said.
In previous years, there had been a huge loss of life due to the lack of early warning of floods and lack of confidence in the information received.
Karki said that due to timely preparations, this time there was very little physical damage to hydropower projects compared to the extent of rains.
Fifteen out of 17 projects in operation in Ilam have stopped generation
The hydropower projects in Ilam district of Koshi Province, which was the most affected by the floods and landslides, have also been the most affected.
These include 4.5 MW Maikhola, 8 MW Maikhola Cascade, 22 MW Maikhola (Sanima Mai), 7 MW Mai Cascade, 7.8 MW Super Mai, 9.6 MW Super Mai A, 3 MW Super Mai A Cascade, 7.6 MW Jogmai Khola, 5.2 MW Jogmai Cascade, 6.2 MW Lower Jogmai, 9.5 MW Maibeni, 9.9 MW Upper Mai, 5.1 MW Mai ‘C’ Cascade, 4.96 MW Puwa 2 and 3 MW Upper Puwa 1 hydropower projects in Ilam district. Of the remaining two projects, the 14.9 MW Hewakhola hydropower project in Panchthar district of Koshi Province and the 52.4 MW Likhu 4 hydropower project in Bagmati Province have been affected.
Currently, production at all projects except Likhu is stopped. The power generation of Likhu 4 hydropower project was stopped for just over an hour.
Most of the damage to the under-construction hydropower projects is on the access road, according to IPPAN.
Landslides have occurred at many places on the 12-kilometre access road built by the 49.95 MW Dana Khola hydropower project in Manang, said Mohan Kumar Dangi, proprietor of the promoter company Lalupate Hydropower.
Dangi said that as the construction of the project began this year, the access road has not been set yet and the rain has washed away the road in many places.
Among the projects under construction, the 10-megawatt Siddhi Khola Hydropower Project in Ilam, promoted by Siddhi Hydropower, was scheduled to go into commercial production within 10 days, but its power generation date has been postponed due to the damage caused by floods.
The construction materials and construction equipment of the 21.5-megawatt Sabhakhola B and 9.9-megawatt Hewakhola Hydropower Projects in Panchthar have been washed away.
The access roads of four hydropower projects in Sindhupalchowk have also been washed away by floods.
Of these, the access roads of the 36.51-megawatt Brahmayani, 15.15-megawatt Upper Brahmayani, 40-megawatt Balefi, and 22.5-megawatt Lower Balefi Hydropower Projects have been washed away by floods.
The power generation dates of the 20 MW Langtang Khola in Rasuwa, 15.5 MW Irkhuwa Khola B in Bhojpur, 14.5 MW Upper Irkhuwa, 22.5 MW Upper Thulo Khola in Myagdi, 6.82 MW Hidi Khola in Lamjung, 48.8 MW Khimti 2 in Ramechhap and 4.5 MW Gasali Khola in Dhading have been postponed due to the damage to various structures, including access roads.
According to IPPAN, it may take some time to get details of the damage as access roads to the projects that are in operation and under construction have been blocked.
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