NEA under pressure to complete construction of Bahrabise substation

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, July 31: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is under pressure to complete the construction of the 220 KV substation under construction at Bahrabise in Sindhupalchowk immediately.

As the construction of 102 megawatt Madhya Bhotekoshi hydroelectric project in Sindhupalchowk under the leadership of Chilime Hydropower Company has reached its final stage, the Authority is under pressure to complete the construction of the substation to which the project will be connected.

The final phase of the construction of the Madhya Bhotekoshi hydropower project is being completed within two months. The electricity generated from Madhya Bhotekoshi will be connected to Bahrabise substation through 220 kV transmission line.

The project has already built the towers of the transmission line from its power plant to Barhabise substation and the work of wire extension is going on.

The construction of the substation has been delayed due to the poor performance of the joint venture of the Chinese companies Guangxi Transmission and Substation Construction Co. and Shenzhen Clou Electronics, which got the contract for the construction of the Bahrabise substation.

The schedule of substation construction has been affected due to the non-compliance of the direction by construction professionals given by the Authority to improve performance, said the NEA.

The Authority has been warning that if the construction of the substation is not completed and the electricity of Madhya Bhotekoshi cannot be connected, the compensation will be paid by the builders, said the NEA.

A high-level team of the Authority, including Managing Director Kul Man Ghising, visited the substation construction site on Saturday.

The team discussed with the project management and construction professionals problems encountered in the construction, condition of equipment supply and the construction completion schedule, among others, said the NEA.

Ghising said that the construction company has seen some improvement in their performance after last February.

Giving direction to speed up the construction by increasing the number of workers, he said that he would visit the substation site weekly to get information about the construction progress.

“The equipment for the substation, including the power transformer, has arrived at the construction site, there is no reason to delay the construction, we are ready to facilitate the construction from our side, the construction must be completed within three months at any cost, otherwise there may be a painful situation of wasting electricity from Madhya Bhotekoshi, so everyone should pay attention to this. Let’s work,” he said.

The company has already brought equipment such as power transformers for the substation, while the place where the transformers are located, 

the control room building, is still under construction.

The substation will have 220/132 kV, 160 MVA and 132/11 kV, 5 MVA power transformers. Another 400 kV substation is also under construction in Barhabise.

The Authority has temporarily made an alternative arrangement for the electricity supply of Madhya Bhotekoshi hydropower project. However, for that too, the construction of Barhabise substation is mandatory.

The 132 kV single-circuit transmission line constructed by Shivashree Hydropower, the promoter company of the 22 MW Upper Chaku ‘A’ hydroelectric project, is going to be doubled.

The work of the line, which should be built by Shivashree Hydropower from Lamosanghu substation to Barhabise, has not even started.

The construction of Tamakoshi-Kathmandu transmission line and substation has been started to flow the electricity of the hydroelectric project of Tamakoshi and Sunkoshi rivers and their tributaries to the national transmission system.

The transmission lines and substations are being constructed with concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank.

Under the Tamakoshi-Kathmandu 220/400 kV transmission line project, a 44 km transmission line is under construction from New Khimti substation at Ramechhap to Barhabise.

Similarly, a 46 km 400 kV double-circuit line from Barhabise to Lapsiphedi in Kathmandu and 14 km 132 kV transmission line from Lapsiphedi to Changunarayan in Bhaktapur are also under construction.

The construction of 400 /220 and 132 /11 kV substations in Lapsiphedi has been affected due to obstruction by local residents.