Preparatory works for construction of the 216MW Upper Trishuli 1 run-of-river hydropower project in Nepal have begun, Tractebel has announced.
The firm, which is owner’s engineer for the project, has had its project team on site since the beginning of January, with the kick off meeting held in February. Three experts from Tractebel and national experts from its local partner are now constantly present to oversee the construction project.
Upper Trishuli 1 will be built on the Trishuli River in the Rasuwa region in a remote rural area where there is a need for infrastructure and economic development. The project will feature a 29.5m high diversion weir with spillway; a 9.7 km long headwater tunnel with a diameter of around 6.5m and a discharge capacity of 76m3 /sec with surge tank and a vertical pressure shaft over 300m long; an underground powerhouse with three Francis turbines (3 x 72MW) with a production of 1456GWh/year; a transformer cavern and 220 kV outdoor switchgear as well as 1.10 km of transmission line.
Nepal Water & Energy Development Company Pvt. ltd (NWEDC), which also includes international investors, is developing the project on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis, with the project development agreement signed with the government in December 2016. Since then, the project has gone through an extensive consultation process that ended in an intensive, three-phase Broad Community Support (BCS) process. The local population was comprehensively involved in this project.
Plans are to complete the project by December 2026.
