The construction works of the country’s biggest ever solar power plant, with installed capacity of 25 megawatts, formally began today at Devighat and Trishuli, in Nuwakot district.

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI), Barsha Man Pun, inaugurated the construction works of the plant, which is being developed by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

The solar plant is being constructed with assistance worth $37 million in soft loan from the World Bank.

According to NEA, it plans to connect the solar power plant to the national grid by next year. The power utility has said that this will help maintain the load management in the country, and especially Kathmandu Valley. The power generated through the solar power plant will be utilised to supply electricity to Kathmandu Valley during peak hours.

NEA says that this will help it to maintain the water level at storage projects like Kulekhani and semi-storage projects like Kaligandaki A, Mid-Marshyangdi and Chilime to manage load for the rest of the country.

In December last year, NEA had resumed construction of the 25 MW solar plant project following a court order allowing it to move ahead with the project.

The proposed plan had been in limbo after the deal signed with the Chinese contractor was suspended by the then parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC). After that, the Patan High Court had directed the Energy Ministry not to implement the PAC decision, and the contract signed between the NEA and Risen Energy Company was restored.

The solar power project suffered a four-month halt after the parliamentary committee directed NEA to scrap the contract and restart contract awarding process through Public Procurement Act. At the time, PAC had alleged that NEA had violated several provisions of the act while appointing Risen Energy. The committee’s order had led to the suspension of the contract and the Chinese contractor had gone to the court.

After the PAC order, the World Bank had also threatened to withdraw funding for the project. However, following the positive court decision, the World Bank withdrew its threat.

In February 2015, the World Bank had agreed to provide $130 million to NEA to build solar stations to supply electricity in Kathmandu Valley. Out of that amount, $37 million was separated for the installation of solar plants in Nuwakot district.

Then NEA managing director Mukesh Raj Kafle himself had decided to hire a different Chinese company to build
the project. Later, the company was deemed ‘technically unqualified’ by an expert committee. After that, the Ministry of Energy and the new NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising decided to award the project to Risen Energy.

[Apr 27,2018 / thehimalayantimes.com]