KATHMANDU, March 13: Preparatory work for Lower Hongu Khola Hydropower Project (29.5 MW) and Inkhu Khola Hydropower Project (22 MW) is going on in full swing.
According to officials of the Department of Electricity Development (DoED), the process to award contracts for access roads - 3 km for Lower Hongu Khola and 23 kilometer for Inkhu Khola, and to acquire land for project sites and access roads has already started. They said that both the works will be completed within the current fiscal year or mid-July.
DoED is building both the projects located in Solukhumbu district.
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“Preparatory work for both the projects has already begun. We have targeted to award contracts for access roads by the end of the current fiscal year,” Surya Dev Gupta, an engineer with the DoED, told Republica.
DoED needs to acquire 275 ropani of land for Lower Hongu Khola, while 360 ropani is to be acquired for Inkhu Khola. Though the department had earlier aimed to complete detailed engineering designs of both the projects by mid-July, Gupta said that it could take few more months to complete detailed engineering designs.
Energy generated by both the projects will be connected to a sub-station being built at Pingla VDC of Solukhumbu by building a separate 22-kilometer transmission line. The construction period of both the projects will be four years.
Gupta also said that the DoED have sent financing proposals of both the projects to Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (Kuwait Fund). “We sent the proposal to Kuwait Fund as they have shown interest in financing hydropower projects in Nepal,” he added.
Kuwait Fund has already signed agreement to provide credit financing of US$ 18 million to Budhi Ganga Hydropower Project (20 MW) which is being built by the DoED.
Lower Hongu Khola and Inkhu Khola are the second and third hydropower projects handled by the DoED after the Achham-based Budhi Ganga project. Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has also agreed to finance $12 million to develop the project.
