The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, which was shut down due to the rain-induced floods and landslides in late September, has partially resumed power generation.
The 456-megawatt project, Nepal’s largest operational hydropower facility, began generating 120 megawatts of electricity on Tuesday evening at 7:40 PM, marking the end of an 88-day shutdown, the state-run national news agency RSS reported.
The generated electricity has already been connected to the national grid, offering a much-needed respite to ease the load-shedding that had been imposed due to the project’s closure amid the ongoing dry season.
Heavy rains on September 27-28 caused significant damage to the project’s infrastructure. The Nepal Electricity Authority had prioritized repairing the project considering its vital contribution to avoid load-shedding during the dry season when Nepal has to rely on imports of electricity from India to meet the domestic demand.
The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited, the project’s promoter, said the company has filed insurance claim for losses amounting to Rs 1.78 billion.
The Nepal Electricity Authority had recently resorted to partial load-shedding to manage the electricity deficit caused by the disruption in production of Upper Tamakoshi and other hydropower projects. The resumption of power generation is expected to alleviate this problem to some extent.
The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project commenced operations on July 5, 2021, following a construction period fraught with delays. Construction began in 2008 after then-Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal laid the foundation stone on June 19 the same year. Although initially scheduled for completion within five years, the project faced multiple setbacks, including the 2015 earthquake, an Indian blockade, and delays attributed to the construction company’s performance.
As a result, the project’s cost escalated from an initial estimate of Rs 35 billion to Rs 84 billion. It features six units, each with a capacity of 76 megawatts.
