Tanahun Hydropower hits 63 percent completion

The Tanahun Hydropower Project, under construction on the Seti River in Tanahun, has achieved 63 percent completion. With a reservoir capacity of 140 MW, the project is scheduled for completion by July 2025. It is being developed with major investment from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and is closely monitored by a high-level team from ADB and the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

On Monday, a team led by ADB’s Nepal Resident Mission Director, Arnaud Kushwa, and NEA’s Executive Director and Chairman of the Tanahun Hydropower Board of Directors, Kulman Ghising, conducted an on-site inspection. They reviewed the construction progress, including the 140-meter-high main dam (Package-1), the underground powerhouse, hydromechanical and electromechanical installations, and the main tunnel (Package-2).

The team held detailed discussions with project management, consultants, and contractors to assess progress, identify challenges, and evaluate the construction schedule. Tanahun Hydropower Managing Director Kiran Kumar Shrestha and Project Chief Shyamji Bhandari provided updates on ongoing activities and existing hurdles.

Highlighting ADB’s focus on the project’s environmental and social safeguards, Mission Director Kushwa urged swift resolution of current challenges to ensure timely and high-quality completion. NEA Executive Director Ghising emphasized the significance of the reservoir-based project in addressing the seasonal electricity demand-supply imbalance and called for collective responsibility to meet the project deadline.

Ghising noted that while structures like the powerhouse and transmission lines are nearing completion, the dam construction remains particularly challenging and sensitive. He directed all stakeholders to prioritize dam construction. Under Package-1, grouting work is ongoing in the lower section of the main dam, with crusher and moisture plants prepared for operations. Main dam construction is set to begin soon, with Package-1, undertaken by Song Da Corporation, Vietnam-Kalika Construction Nepal JV, currently 36% complete.

Package-2, which includes the construction of tunnels, the powerhouse, and hydromechanical and electromechanical equipment installation, is being executed by SinoHydro Corporation of China. The civil structure of the powerhouse is nearly complete, and the tailrace construction has been finished, bringing overall physical progress of this package to 62 percent.

Package-3 involves the construction of a 220 kV double-circuit transmission line from Damauli to Bharatpur in Chitwan, being implemented by KEC International Limited, India. Of the 94 towers required along the 34.7 km route, foundations for 78 towers have been laid, and 69 towers have been erected. The overall progress of this package stands at 74 percent.