According to the agreement, the project will get total loan financing of US$ 78.6 million -- $40 million from World Bank and $38.6 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC).Loan financing by World Bank and IFC will comprise of 77.5 percent of the project cost. The estimated cost of the project is $99.5 million.
KEL, a subsidiary of Butwal Power Company, had won the project through international bidding in January, 2010.
Uttar Kumar Shrestha, CEO of Butwal Power Company, said that contract for civil works has already been signed. "We will expedite work in the project site," Shrestha said.
The run-of-river project is a six-hour peaking per day project. It is close to load center of the eastern region, according to energy experts.
The project had fallen into serious trouble when its license was scrapped on the direction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) in 2014. The cabinet re-issued the license to the company later on.
KEL has already invested Rs 640 million in the project. It plans to complete the project by 2019. It will be connected to the national grid through 132 KV Kabeli Corridor Transmission Line which is under construction.
Kabeli B-1 hydropower project back into operation