Myagdi — The 37.5-megawatt Chimkhola–Mangale–Rahughat Hydropower Project, constructed in Raghuganga Rural Municipality, has begun test production.
The project, promoted by Tudi Power Company Limited, has started electricity generation after completing the testing of physical structures including the dam, desander (water-settling basin), and tunnel.
Tudi Power representative Indra Dhakal stated that the project’s electricity will be connected to the central transmission line after successful testing. He mentioned that the testing will be completed within the next 15 days.
A dam and a 110-meter-long, 8-meter-high, and 30-meter-wide settling basin have been constructed at Bandi in Raghuganga Rural Municipality–8.
Residential engineer Prakash Timilsina said that a 950-meter penstock pipeline has been built to drop the water—brought through a 5.3-kilometer-long tunnel from the dam—into the powerhouse located on the riverbed at Chimkhola in Raghuganga–7.
The elevation difference from the powerhouse to the tunnel outlet is 360 meters. The construction of the project began in Mangsir 2077 B.S. (November/December 2020), and the civil contractors are Ramechhap Sherpa and South Asian Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. The tunnel was excavated from four different points.
Machhapuchhre and BMEW Nepal are the hydromechanical contractors, while Everest Hydro is the electromechanical contractor. A 220 kV transmission line has been constructed from the powerhouse to the switchyard located within the Rahughat Hydropower Project premises at Tilkenichaur in Raghuganga Rural Municipality–3, covering a distance of 14 kilometers.
There are 49 towers along the transmission line. The electricity generated by the project will be connected to the 220 kV Dana–Kushma transmission line through the “loop-in, loop-out” (LILO) method.
The 48.5-megawatt Upper Rahughat Hydropower Project, also promoted by Tudi Power, including the Chimkhola–Mangale–Rahughat project, has a total cost of NPR 14 billion.
The Upper Rahughat project is also in its final stage of construction. The Chimkhola–Mangale–Rahughat project is the first hydropower project completed in the Rahughat basin. Other projects nearing completion in the Rahughat River include the 40 MW Rahughat, 21.3 MW Thulokhola, and 22.3 MW Upper Thulokhola Hydropower Projects.
RSS
