Tunnel construction of Upper Kabeli Hydro project completed

By Chandra Pandak, Taplejung, June 9:  The tunnel construction work of the under-construction Upper Kabeli Hydropower Project in Taplejung has been completed. 

The tunnel, built for the hydropower project that aims to generate electricity from the Kabeli River flowing along the border of Sirijangha and Sidingwa rural municipalities, has now been fully completed.

According to project manager Prakash Dhungana, the tunnel construction work was completed by Sunday. Dhungana informed that with the completion of the project’s main tunnel, all tunnel construction work for the 28.1 MW hydropower project has now been finalised.

Dhungana informed that the construction of a total of 5,600 metres of tunnels, including the main and adit tunnels, has been completed. 

Of this, the approximately 4,800-metre-long main tunnel construction was completed on Sunday. Earlier, in the first week of last August, the construction of the adit tunnel connecting the intake had been completed.

With the completion of tunnel construction, around 75 per cent of the project’s overall construction work has now been finished, according to Dhungana.  He said that, alongside the main tunnel, the installation of pipes, transmission line wiring, and construction of structures including the penstock tunnel and intake, have already been completed.

Dhungana said that only a few structures, including the sand-settling pond, which has already achieved around 50 per cent progress, remain to be completed. 

He added that work is currently being accelerated to test electricity generation from the project by Dashain and Tihar period in October-November.

The project’s headworks are located at Tellok Puchhar in Ward No. 4 of Sirijangha Rural Municipality, while the powerhouse is situated at the confluence of the Nebu River on the border of Wards 1 and 2.

The project is being promoted by Peace Energy Company Limited, with a total estimated cost of Rs. 5.64 billion. Of the total investment, 75 per cent consists of loans from Nepali banks, while the remaining 25 per cent has been invested by the promoter company.

Electricity generated from the Upper Kabeli Project will be integrated into the national transmission grid through the Nepal Electricity Authority’s 132 kV substation located in Amarpur of Hilihang Rural Municipality, Panchthar.

Meanwhile, the project’s main affected areas include Sinam in Ward No. 1, Ambegudin in Ward No. 2, and Tellok in Ward No. 4 of Sirijangha Rural Municipality, as well as Limbudin in Ward No. 5 and Mehele in Ward No. 6 of Sidingwa Rural Municipality.