Kulekhani III Hydropower Project Shifted to January 2018

The target of the 14 MW Kulekhani III hydropower project has been shifted to the third week of January 2018, reports The Kathmandu Post.

This hydropower project was started in April 2008 and targeted for 2012. Since then, the target deadline has been extended five times.

Before this, the project was targeted for mid-August but the deadline was extended due to slow progress by the contractor Jheijian Jialin Company. Currently, the civil contractor for the project, Sino Hydro, has requested an extension of 6 months to complete construction

The Nepal Electricity Authority is yet to give its decision regarding the deadline extension. The project chief, Subhash Kumar Mishra said that the board can only extend the civil works deadline but the electro-mechanical works have been trusted entirely to Jheijian Jialin Company.

Regarding the progress of the project,necessary equipment have already been imported. The switchyard at the powerhouse is being constructed and installation of generator and turbine is also being done. Two out of three transmission towers are nearly finished.

According to Mishra, 80 percent of the electro-mechanical work and 98 percent of the civil works construction have been completed.

In the years, this project has doubled its monetary estimate. The initial estimated cost of the project was Rs 2.43 billion but the cost has already reached Rs 5 billion.

The project was estimated to cost Rs 173.6 million for the production of per megawatt power but the amount has now increased to Rs 310 million per megawatt.