Chilime-Trishuli transmission line is ready to be put into operation by March

KATHMANDU: The overall construction of the Chilime-Trishuli 220 kVA transmission line and substations under construction for the flow of hydropower projects under construction in the Trishuli river and its tributaries to the national grid has been completed 70 percent. The construction of transmission lines and substations is being done in full swing by March next year.

Under the project, 220/132/33 KVA Chilime Hub and Trishuli 3B Hub substations are under construction at Thambuchet in Amachodingmo rural municipality of Rasuwa and Pahrebensi of Kispang rural municipality of Nuwakot respectively. Besides, Rasuwa’s Chilime-Trisuli 3B hub 220 kV transmission line is being constructed.

Both substations have reached the final stage of construction of civil structures. Important equipment such as power transformer, GIS etc. which are in the substation have been brought to the project site. On the other hand, all equipment including towers, conductors, etc. of the transmission line have been supplied to the construction site.

The foundations of 43 of the 79 towers in the total 28 km transmission line have been laid. Foundation work of 14 towers is going on. 25 towers have been erected and pulling the wires on the erected towers will start soon. Under the Chilime-Trishuli 3B hub transmission line, the Chilime-Mailung section of 20 km double circuit and the 8 km four-multi circuit up to the Mailung-Trishuli 3B hub will be constructed.

Out of 27 multi-circuit towers, 10 foundations have been laid. Two have been erected and foundation work is being done at 7 places. Under the transmission line, a line has to be stretched for a distance of 1,234 meters over the Mailung River from one tower located on Tiru Danda in Rasuwa to another tower located on Khadgu Danda.

Under the leadership of Korean companies, a multi-circuit line is going to be made to connect the power of the 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 hydroelectric project. Upper Trishuli-1 will bear 60 percent of the cost of constructing the multi-circuit line.

A tower has to be built in a geographically very dangerous and difficult mountainous area, because it is crowded and there is no road, stones, sand, tower materials, water have to be carried by people or carts, floods, poor performance of contractors and consultants, land use problems in forest areas, local obstacles , due to covid-19 etc., the construction of the project has been affected.

For the construction of towers in Tiru of Uttargaya rural municipality, the project has constructed an access road of about 15 km from Trishuli river to that place. Due to this, the movement of the residents of that area has also become easier.

Nepal Electricity Authority’s Executive Director Kulman Ghising, Deputy Executive Director Pradeep Kumar Thike, a high-level team has conducted on-site monitoring of the under-construction substation and transmission line on Saturday and Sunday and instructed to complete the work within the deadline of next March.

After discussions between the project management, consultants and the contractor company, the team has instructed not to delay the construction work, and to speed up the work by adding more workers.

Executive Director Ghising while instructing to work on a tower as a project, said that necessary facilitation will be done to solve the cash flow and social problems faced by the contractor.

“The three hydropower projects that will be connected to this transmission line are in the final stage of construction. Since the construction of those projects will be completed within March, there is pressure to finish the construction of the substation and transmission line before that. Even the donor agencies that have invested in the project are seriously concerned and worried about the delay in the construction.” Ghising said.

The tower has to be built in very difficult places, he instructed to continue all the works like laying the foundation of the tower, erecting it, pulling the wire, connecting the equipment of the substation, etc. in parallel by adding manpower. He said that the construction work will be monitored regularly.

The Chinese company Pingao Group of Companies, the contractor of the project, has stated that the construction of the project has been speeded up and has promised to complete it by March.

Under the People’s Hydropower Program, the power of the 111 MW Rasuwagadhi, 42.5 MW Sanjen, and 14.8 MW Upper Sanjen hydropower projects under construction under the leadership of Chilime Hydropower Company will be connected to the Chilime Hub. The projects are being worked on with the goal of completing them within Chaitra.

If substations and transmission lines are not constructed within that period, the power of the projects will be wasted. The Authority’s team has requested all those involved in the construction to work seriously to prevent the power loss of the projects due to the lack of transmission lines.

A contract was signed with Pinggao in October 2016 for the construction of transmission lines and substations. The contract agreement was implemented in January 2017. The consultant for the project is Power Grid of India.

The estimated cost of the project is 30.9 million US dollars, and there are investments from the Nepalese government and authorities and concessional loans from the German Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.