Kathmandu – The financial arrangements for the 61 MW Nar Khola Hydropower Project, to be constructed mainly with investment from Singti Hydro Limited, have been completed.
For the construction of the project, five banks, led by Kumari Bank, have signed an agreement to provide a loan investment of NPR 9.5 billion.
At a program held on Monday, Batu Lamichhane, Chairman of Nar Khola Hydro Energy Pvt. Ltd., and Arpan Pokharel, Chief Regional Credit Officer of Kumari Bank, jointly signed the investment agreement.
The Nar Khola Hydropower Project, with an installed capacity of 61.11 MW, will be constructed by integrating the waters of the Nar Khola and Soti Khola rivers, located in Narpa Bhumi and Nasong rural municipalities of Manang.
The project promoter, Nar Khola Hydro Energy Pvt. Ltd., has stated that all procedures for the project construction have been completed.
A power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Nepal Electricity Authority had already been finalized for the project. On Monday, an investment agreement was signed, under which Kumari Bank will lead a consortium of Nepal SBI Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, NIC Asia Bank, and Muktinath Development Bank to invest in the project.
The Nar Khola Hydropower Project will have a gross head of 588.82 meters and is expected to generate 366.48 GWh of electricity annually. The project will sell electricity worth NPR 210 million per year. To produce 61.11 MW of electricity, three turbines with a capacity of 20.37 MW each will be used. The project’s headrace tunnel will be approximately 8 kilometers long.
The dam structures of the project will be constructed in Narpa Bhumi Rural Municipality, while the powerhouse will be built in Nasong Rural Municipality. The electricity generated by the project will be connected to the under-construction substation at Dharapani, Manang, of the Nepal Electricity Authority.
The total cost of the project is NPR 1.284 billion, of which NPR 963 million will come from bank loans and NPR 321 million from equity investment. The company has stated that Singti Hydro Energy Limited will be the main investor in the equity portion.
The company has stated that construction of the access road for the project has already begun, and work on the main structures is expected to start within three months, with a goal to complete the project within the next three years.
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