The Nepal Electricity Authority is working hard to fix power plants and transmission lines damaged by recent floods to ensure steady electricity supply.
Restoration Efforts Underway
The Nepal Electricity Authority has sent technical teams to fix hydropower projects and power lines hit by heavy floods. While some plants are ready to produce electricity, they cannot connect to the national grid because the transmission structures are damaged. The authority is doing their best to bring back normal electricity service as quick as possible.
Transmission Line Damage
Flooding over four days broke the 220 kV Kushma-Dana transmission line. This affected seven hydropower projects with a total capacity of 190.4 megawatts. The projects waiting for repairs include Nilgiri-1, Nilgiri-2, Mistry, Thapakhola, Gharkhola, Relekhola, and Ghalemdi. It will take some time for these plants to send their power to the grid again.
Assessing the Impact
The 220 kV Dana-Kushma line, part of the Kali Gandaki Corridor, saw damage at towers 21 and 22. It is hard for teams to inspect everything because many roads are blocked by landslides. Apart from the Rahughat hydropower station, other plants totaling 127.8 megawatts also faced damage to their transmission and distribution systems. The authority believes these can be fixed within a few days using backup methods.
Status of Rahughat and Other Plants
The 40-megawatt Rahughat project suffered damage to its tailrace gate and duct, and water entered the turbine floor. It might take 10 days to clean the water and start the plant. However, the switchyard is safe and has already been charged. Meanwhile, the Seti-Madi and Marsyangdi corridor power centers are back in operation. The authority is also preparing to restart the 144-megawatt Kali Gandaki plant.
Previous Damages and Winter Plan
Back on Bhadra 10, floods in the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers caused damages totaling roughly 74 arba rupees to the authority and its companies. Currently, about 430 megawatts is out of the national system. To manage demand in the upcoming dry season, the authority expects to have 1,218 megawatts from local production. They plan to import 1,154 megawatts from India through various routes like Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur and Tanakpur-Mahendranagar. With this, the total electricity available in the dry season will reach around 2,372 megawatts, which is more than the peak demand of 2,292 megawatts recorded last year.
AI Disclaimer: This article was originally published on https://bajarkochirfar.com. It has been translated with the help of AI. For the best understanding and accurate facts, we recommend reading the original Nepali version.
