The country’s largest hydropower project being developed by the private sector has achieved financial closure. Times Energy Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Sahas Urja Ltd, has secured a Rs 52.5bn bank financing to build the Budhigandaki semi-reservoir hydropower project (341 MW) in Gorkha district. A consortium of 10 commercial banks and financial institutions led by Nepal Investment Mega Bank (NIMB) is financing the project. Nabil Bank, Laxmi Sunrise Bank, Global IME Bank, Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Ltd (HIDCL), Machhapuchchhre Bank, Citizens International Bank, Nepal Infrastructure Bank, Prabhu Bank and Agricultural Development Bank are the other partners in the consortium.
The project is expected to cost an estimated Rs 70bn. Of this, 75 percent, or Rs 52.5bn, will be financed through debt from the consortium, while the remaining 25 percent, or Rs 17.5bn, will come through equity investment from the promoters. Sahas Urja will contribute 51 percent of the equity investment amounting to around Rs 8.93bn.
According to Sahas Urja, the access road to the project site has already been completed and the process of distributing compensation for land required for the project is underway. Construction is scheduled to begin from early 2026. The company has already signed a power purchase agreement with the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
NEA will pay the company Rs 8.4-10.55 per unit in the dry season and Rs 4.80 per unit in the wet season. The license to develop the project was originally held by Times Energy promoted by entrepreneur Deepak Malhotra. The project got momentum after Sahas Urja, which owns the Solukhola hydropower project (86 MW), acquired Times Energy for around Rs 2bn about a year ago.
The project will be built on Budhigandaki river that flows through Chum Nubri and Dharche rural municipalities of Gorkha. The dam is located in Tsum Nubri Rural Municipality in the Manaslu Conservation Area. Other structures will be located outside the conservation area. Times Energy received the generation license from the Department of Electricity Development in Dec 2023.
Designed as a peaking run-of-river (PRoR) project, the project will have a reservoir capable of daily peaking for five hours. The underground powerhouse will have six vertical-axis Pelton turbines of 57 MW each. The project aims to begin commercial generation in 2030. The power generated by the project will be connected to the 400 kV Ratamate substation being built under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact.
