Construction Begins on Access Road for Lower Seti Hydropower Project in Tanahun

Damouli. Tanahun Hydropower Limited is set to commence construction of the access road for the 126 MW Lower Seti Hydropower Project. The Limited, which is currently constructing the 140 MW Tanahun Hydropower Project, is moving forward with the Lower Seti project to utilize the water discharged from the existing facility.

Shyamji Bhandari, Chief of the Tanahun Hydropower Project, informed that the contractor has begun constructing the project's access road and establishing the office. The Lower Seti Hydropower Project is being built in the lower coastal area by utilizing the controlled water flow from the existing project and additional flow from the Mardi River. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Lower Seti Hydropower Project has already been prepared.

The land acquisition process for the project has also advanced. It is reported that a proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation for approval to proceed with the acquisition of private land required for various structures of the project.

Under the project, a 32-meter high dam will be constructed on the Seti River near Sarangghat, in Bandipur Rural Municipality-6 and Devghat Rural Municipality-3. The plan is to divert the water flow through a 6.8-kilometer tunnel via Devghat-3 and 4, and drop it into a semi-underground powerhouse located on the right bank of the Kaligandaki River in Devghat, approximately 500 meters downstream from the confluence of the Seti River, to generate electricity.

The project will affect parts of Bandipur-6, Byas Municipality-13, 14, Devghat Rural Municipality-2, 3, and 4, Rishing Rural Municipality-1 and 3, Ambukhaireni Rural Municipality-5 and 6, and Bharatpur Metropolitan City-29.

Electricity generation will take place at the semi-underground powerhouse to be constructed at Gaighat in Devghat-4. The generated electricity will be connected to the national grid by linking it to the 220 kV Damauli-New Bharatpur transmission line constructed by the Tanahun Hydropower Project. This will require the construction of approximately two kilometers of transmission line.

The reservoir of the semi-storage Lower Seti project, approximately 12 kilometers long, will extend from the upper coastal area, i.e., the dam site, up to Sundegaun. The project is expected to generate 520 million units of electricity annually. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 25 billion.

The company has already received the survey license for power generation from the project. Furthermore, a procurement contract for consultancy services to prepare the detailed engineering design and bidding documents, funded by a grant of approximately US$ 3.5 million from the donor agency ADB, was signed with Wapcos India/Nippon Koei Japan JV on Chaitra 29, 2075 BS.