The 45-megawatt Upper Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project has finally started its test transmission from today. Though it had been commissioning energy since January 2001, the project had been closed after the April 25, 2015 earthquake and floods and landslides had completely damaged the project.

Initially, the project had been partially damaged by the earthquake and later in July, 2016, the floods in the Bhotekoshi River completely damaged the project. The project was being reconstructed since the last two years. The reconstruction work of the Upper Bhotekoshi hydropower project was completed by Sino Hydro’s Bureau 11, a Chinese company, at a cost of about Rs seven billion.

A majority of the works including civil, hydroelectrical and hydromechanical works was done by Sino Hydro while works related to installation of turbine and generator were handled by an American company named Francis Turbine.

Bikram Sthapit, chief executive officer of the company, said they have plans to continue with the test generation for 15 days and from December 22, we will start the commercial generation from the project.

According to him, the internal testing of the project has been completed successfully.

“Now, we have started test transmission of the project,” Sthapit said, adding that they had successfully conducted this work with support from Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

There is a provision in Power Development Agreement that NEA needs to first test any project before it starts commercial production.

“Due to the low flow of water in the winter season, we will be able to generate only 22 to 25 megawatts of electricity. After the water level rises we will able to operate in a full-fledged manner,” Sthapit said.

Upper Bhotekoshi project is located at Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchowk district and was developed by the private sector.

“NEA will test the project within a week. The commercial power production will start within the next 15 days,” he added. After the reconstruction was completed, the project tested the physical infrastructure and equipment of the hydropower plant.