By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Aug. 17 : The construction of the first section of Koshi Corridor 220 KV Transmission Line Project has been completed.

The construction of 106 km long 220 KV double circuit transmission line from Inaruwa of Sunsari to Tumlingtar of Sankhuwasabha has been completed.

A total of 326 towers have been constructed for the transmission line.
Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising informed that the infrastructure has been prepared for the supply of electricity from the 2,000 MW hydropower projects constructed in the Arun and Tamor river basins after the completion of the transmission line.

The line will be operated (charged) at 33 KV from Tuesday.
"Until the construction of 220 KV substation in Inaruwa is completed, the line will be temporarily charged at 33 KV and electricity generated from private sector projects will be supplied to Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha and Tehrathum," said Ghising.

"It has solved the problem of the transmission line that the projects of the area have been facing during the rainy season."

The existing 33 KV line in Tirtire of Sankhuwasabha will be connected to the Koshi Corridor transmission line and the Chatara-Dharan 33 KV line at Dharan Sub-metropolis-17 of Sunsari.

The projects in Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha and Tehrathum were not able to run at full capacity during the rainy season as the capacity of Tirtire-Basantapur-Dhankuta-Dharan 33 KV transmission line was not enough.

The installed capacity of the projects is about 33 MW.

Project Chief Rajan Dhakal said that three substations have been constructed in Tumlingtar of Sankhuwabha and Baneshwor and Basantapur of Tehrathum.

"With continuous efforts to overcome various obstacles in the construction phase, we have been able to complete the work with the help and cooperation of all," he said.

The Koshi Corridor has been constructed to connect hydropower projects of Province 1 to be constructed in Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha, Terhathum and Taplejung to the national grid with the concessional loan of the government, NEA and Exim Bank of India.

NEA has already signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to connect 516 MW of electricity of 28 private sector projects to this transmission line. These projects are in various stages of construction, NEA said.
In the first package of the corridor, Inaruwa-Basantapur-Baneshwor-Tumlingtar 220 KV double circuit transmission line has been constructed. The estimated cost is USD 37.5 million.

In the second package, 220 KV substations have been constructed in Inaruwa, Basantapur, Baneshwar and Tumlingtar. The estimated cost of the package is USD 25.3 million.

In the third package, work is underway for the construction of Basantapur-Dhungesanghu (Taplejung) 35 km transmission line. The construction of 132 towers is targeted to be completed by next January.