220 KV Double Circuit Transmission Line in Kaligandaki Corridor Completed
October 11, 2023 | Investopaper
The construction of the Kaligandaki Corridor 220 KV double circuit transmission line has finished, preparing the infrastructure to transmit about 1200 megawatts of electricity. This corridor will integrate upcoming hydropower projects on the Kaligandaki and its tributaries into the national transmission system, starting from Annapurna rural municipality-3 Dana substation in Myagdi and extending through Parbat, Baglung, Syangja, Palpa, Rupandehi to Sunwal municipality-13 Bhumhi in Nawalparasi (Bardghat Susta West), spanning approximately 140 kilometers.
The Nepal Electricity Authority divided the construction into two sections. The first section, from Dana to Kushma Municipality-2 Khurkot in Parbat, covers about 40 kilometers and is operational. Substations of 220/132 KV in Khurkot and 220/132/33 KV in Dana are operational, each equipped with 100/100 MVA capacity power transformers. The second section, covering around 90 kilometers from Kushma to New Butwal substation, is now operational with 236 towers and a 220 kV substation in New Butwal. The completion of both sections marks the successful conclusion of the Kaligand corridor transmission line.
Previously, the Kushma substation couldn’t transmit sufficient electricity to Modi due to transmission line limitations, impacting the Mistri Khola hydropower project’s ability to deliver the full electricity output. However, with the new transmission line operational, electricity from projects like Mistri Khola, Ghar Khola, Thapa Khola, and Ghalemdi Khola hydropower projects is now efficiently connected to the Dana substation and transmitted to the New Butwal substation through the Kaligandaki Corridor transmission line.
Future hydropower projects under construction in Mustang, Magdi, and other districts will also connect to the same transmission line. Challenges in the construction, including delays due to tree cutting permits, local objections, and the Covid-19 pandemic, have been overcome to complete the transmission line.
The Kaligandaki Corridor Transmission Line Project was financed by the Nepal Government, the Nepal Electricity Authority, and concessional loans from the Power System Expansion Project under the South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) of the Asian Development Bank, with an estimated cost of about 11 billion rupees.
Once the line from New Butwal substation to Bardghat is finished, the 220 kV transmission line infrastructure will extend from Hetaunda to New Butwal, facilitating electricity trade with India via the New Butwal-Gorakhpur 400 kV second international transmission line. Excess electricity consumed within the country will be exported to India through this transmission line, with a new 400 KV substation to be constructed in Butwal as part of the Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line project funded by the American aid project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
