Kathmandu, 16th March 2025: Nepal Electricity Authority has directed the completion of the construction of the middle Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project and the Khimti-Bahrabise Transmission Line, being developed under the leadership of its subsidiary company Chilime Hydropower Limited in Sindhupalchok, within a month.
During the testing of structures and equipment to start electricity generation from the completed middle Bhotekoshi project, water leakage occurred in the tunnel. Currently, the repair and improvement work on the leaking tunnel is being carried out rapidly.
The 102 MW installed capacity middle Bhotekoshi project generates up to 40 MW of electricity during the winter months. Since this 40 MW holds significant importance for managing electricity supply as per winter demand, the Nepal Electricity Authority’s management has been making efforts and issuing directives to bring Madhya Bhotekoshi into operation as soon as possible.
The team, consisting of Managing Director of the Authority Kulman Ghising, CEO of Chilime Hydropower Company and Chairman of the middle Bhotekoshi Hydropower Company Board Subhash Kumar Mishra, visited the transmission line and substation on Saturday to monitor and gather information on the construction progress.
The 400 kV transmission line from the new Khimti substation in Ramechhap to Bahrabise in Sindhupalchok, under the Tamakoshi-Kathmandu transmission line project, which will carry electricity generated by the middle Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project, is in its final stage of construction. All the towers along the Khimti-Bahrabise section have been erected, with only about one kilometer of wiring remaining to be completed.
The 400 kV New Khimti–Bahrabise transmission line will initially be operated (charged) at 200 kV to integrate the electricity from middle Bhotekoshi into the national transmission grid. The process of installing the necessary infrastructure at the New Khimti and Bahrabise substations for charging the line at 200 kV has already begun.
The team led by Managing Director Ghising held discussions on the ongoing and remaining tasks at the New Khimti and Bahrabise substations for charging the Khimti–Bahrabise transmission line at 200 kV. The project management and contractors were instructed to expedite the remaining work immediately. The team also inspected the ongoing wire stringing work at Chaukata in Tripurasundari Rural Municipality-2, Sindhupalchok, under the transmission line project.
Managing Director Ghising stated that he personally visited the field for monitoring, as the construction of both projects is crucial and sensitive, given the significant role of 40 megawatts in managing winter electricity demand. He directed that the remaining work be taken seriously and expedited with necessary coordination.
The construction of the approximately four-kilometer 220 kV transmission line, connecting the switchyard of the middle Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project in Bahrabise Municipality-5 to the Nepal Electricity Authority’s Bahrabise substation in Municipality-3, has been completed.
The Tamakoshi-Kathmandu transmission line has been constructed to carry electricity from the hydropower projects built or being built on the Tamakoshi and Sunkoshi rivers and their tributaries. Out of the 122 towers in the Bahrabise-Lapsifedi line section, only the construction of two towers remains. The construction of the 220 kV substation in Bahrabise under the project has already been completed.
