POKHARA, Feb 24: Brace yourself for two more hours of load-shedding because the Kaligandi A Hydropower Project in Syangja district will be shut from 1 March for about 10 days for maintenance.
The installed capacity of the run-of-the-river project is 144 megawatts but it is currently generating only 60 megawatts.
The project officials said all three inlet valves of the project which carry the water from tunnel to the turbine have eroded and water has stared to leak so repair has become necessary. Officials also said the valves have not been repaired for the past eight years.
Talking to Republica, a technician of the project said, “Since the water level is comparatively low in dry season, we have scheduled the maintenance this time around.”
The inlet valves of all the three electricity generating turbines of the project will undergo maintenance. “Among the three valves, one is nearly damaged and the other two are in need of repair,” said the technician.
The technician also informed that machinery parts needed have been imported from Japan and the project´s technicians themselves will carry out the maintainence work. “This is the first time the project is going to be shut for such a long time for maintenance,” said the technician.
Chief of the project, Awadesh Kumar Jha, said the valves should have been repaired 7-8 years ago, but they could not do so due to various problems including lack of funds as the parts are very expensive and have to be imported all the way from Japan.
“All the parts have already reached Kathmandu and in two days we will receive them,” added Jha.
Source : Republica
