NepalEnergyForum

Three Gorge and Exim Bank have expressed interest

The China Three Gorge Corporation (CTGC) and the Exim Bank of China have expressed interest in developing the 750-MW West Seti Hydroelectricity Project (WSHEP), Nepali officials have said.A three-member Nepali negotiating team is now in China to ensure investment from CTGC and Exim Bank for the project. The government and CTGC have already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for developing the mega project.Radesh Pant, CEO of the Investment Board and a member of the Nepali delegation, said both CTGC the bank showed interest for investing in the project. “It is necessary to develop WSHEP with the Chinese investment as it will help attracting other foreign investors in Nepal’s power sector,” he said.He was of the view that the entry of a big company would give positive message to other foreign investors. Thursday’s meeting discussed ways to make West Seti a multi-purpose project.At CTGC’s invitation, Nepali delegation left for China on Tuesday to talk with senior officials of CTGC and ask the Chinese bank provide soft loans for the construction of a transmission line to evacuate energy generated from WSHEP. The delegation, led by Energy Secretary Hari Ram Koirala, comprises of Pant and Rameshwor Khanal, economic advisor to the Prime Minister.During the negotiation, the Nepali team also talked about completing both hydropower and transmission line simultaneously so that the electricity generated could be sent to the national grid immediately.WSHEP received the second lease of life with the signing of the MoU on March 1 after the government scrapped the license of the previous developer Snowy Mountain Energy Corporation (SMEC) of Australia