Upper Mailung-A to come online by September 2017

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    Apr 10, 2017- Construction of the Upper Mailung-A Hydropower Project will be completed within six months, project officials said.

    The 6.42 MW plant is expected to come online in mid-September. Work on the project stalled due to the earthquake and Indian embargo which led to shortages of fuel and building materials.

    The dam is ready, which means around 70 percent of the construction work has been completed. Builders are currently working on the powerhouse and penstock pipe which will deliver water to the turbines that will generate electricity. A 3,880-metre pipeline will be laid to bring water from the Mailung River and channel it to the turbines in the powerhouse from a height of 900 metres.

    Project developer Energy Engineering will be spending Rs1.1 billion on the construction of the project situated on the foothills of Mt Ganesh Himal. The construction site on the Mailung River in Rasuwa district is 3,300 metres above sea level. There is only one other hydropower that is situated at a greater height.

    “We have already transported the equipment required to generate electricity to the project site, but we haven’t been able to install it due to heavy snow,” said Pavitra Man Bohara, engineer of the project. The project is using the access road built by the Nepal Army 30 years ago.

    Construction began three years ago with the aim of generating electricity within two years. “But progress was delayed due to the devastating earthquake, blockade, acute shortage of labourers and heavy snowfall that happens occasionally,” said Jeet Man Sherpa, director of  Energy Engineering.

    The project is being financed by a consortium of Nepali commercial banks led by Nepal Bank Limited and includes Nepal Investment Bank and Civil Bank. The consortium will finance 70 percent of the total cost of the project. The plant will generate 35.78 gigawatt hours annually.

    Source: The Kathmandu Post