KATHMANDU: A total of 322 MW of electricity has been connected to the national transmission line from the last fiscal year to July 18.

In the last fiscal year, 152 MW of electricity was connected to the national transmission line from two units of the much talked about Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project.

Similarly, power from more than a dozen hydropower projects developed by the private sector were connected to the national grid.

Spokesperson of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project Ganesh Prasad Neupane said that 152 MW of electricity of two units of the project was connected to the national transmission line in the last fiscal year.

"The first unit was connected to the 76-megawatt national transmission line on July 5," he said. "In the second week of July, 76 megawatts were added from the second unit."

He informed that the commercial test of Tamakoshi will be started only after 15 days of technical test.

The electricity generated from the 25 MW Singati Khola Hydropower Project has been connected to the national grid since July 16. The project, built in Dolakha district, was connected to the national grid 18 months after its completion. Even after the completion of the project, there was no electricity connection due to lack of transmission line.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has brought 132 KV Singati-Lamosanghu transmission line into operation since Thursday. Executive Director of the project Ganesh Karki said that more than Rs 1 billion was lost due to untimely construction of the transmission line.

"We built it with loans and money. We had to incur a loss of around Rs 1 billion due to untimely construction of the transmission line," he said. “It looks like we won’t be getting any compensation for the loss due to COVID-19 pandemic.”The cost for the project was Rs 5 billion. As the construction was delayed, the interest alone reached Rs 1 billion.

NEA spokesperson Madan Timalsina said that about 322 MW of electricity was connected to the national grid in the last fiscal year. He said, “This statement is inclusive of Singati in the national grid.”

According to NEA, commercial production of 118 MW from the private sector and 130 MW from solar and biomass has started in the last fiscal year.

NEA Spokesperson Timalsina said that electricity could not be connected to the national transmission line as per the target in the last fiscal year. “Last fiscal year, we had set a target of connecting about 1,500 MW of electricity to the national transmission line. We could not meet the target due to COVID-19 and floods," he said. “Delay by the contractors and other factors also affected the target.”

The NEA has stated that 130 MW of electricity has been generated commercially by solar and biomass from the private sector in the fiscal year 2020/21.