Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has brought three 220 kilovolt (kV) substations into operation on the same day.

The Authority has started the operation of 220 kV three substations in Inaruwa of Sunsari and Tumlingtar and Baneshwar by charging electricity from Thursday.

The 220/132/33 kV Tumlingtar and 220/ 33 kV Baneshwar substations have power transformers of 260 MVA and 60 MVA capacity respectively.

Also, under the Koshi Corridor transmission line project, the Inaruwa-Tumlingtar section single circuit transmission line has been charged at 220 kV and brought into operation. The length of the transmission line is 105 kilometers.

Managing director of NEA Kul Man Ghising said that after the transmission line and substation are operational, the infrastructure has been prepared as a backbone for the electricity produced in the hilly districts of Province-1 to connect and distribute to the national transmission system. He mentioned that after the 220 kV transmission line and substation came into operation, the voltage in that area has improved and the power supply is reliable with quality.

"In the Morang-Sunsari industrial corridor, when the supply was only from Duhabi substation of Sunsari, there was a problem of voltage, tripping, now the load of Duhabi substation can be shifted to Inaruwa substation, so more electricity can be provided to the industries and the problems of voltage, tripping will be solved", Ghising said.

"There was also a problem of tripping in the power plants of Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur and Tehrathum districts. Now that problem will also be solved. If the electricity coming through the Koshi Corridor transmission line is more than consumed in that area, it can be exported to India through the Dhalkebar substation of Dhanusha."

The 220/132/33 kV Inaruwa Substation has been constructed under the Nepal-India Power Transmission and Trade Project with the investment of the government of Nepal and a concessional loan from the World Bank to strengthen the power transmission and distribution system within the country.

Under the Koshi Corridor 220 kV transmission line project, substations and transmission lines have been constructed at Tumlingtar, Basantpur and Baneshwar with the investment of the government of Nepal and the concessional loan of the Export Import (Exim) Bank of the government of India.

Since the Inaruwa substation was not operational, the Inaruwa-Basantpur-Tumlingtar transmission line was temporarily charged at 33 kV and brought into operation. The 66-km transmission line from Kitingidanda in Sankhuwasabha to Dharan in Sunsari was started a year ago at 33 kV.

Ghising said that after the transmission lines and substations are operational, the availability of resources for power supply in that area will make the system reliable.

A 23-km-long 132 kV transmission line and substation are under construction from Inaruwa Substation to Biratnagar for the improvement and strengthening of additional structures of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor.

The construction of a 400 kV substation based on a gas insulated system (GIS) at Inruwa substation has reached its final stage. After the completion of construction of the substation, Inaruwa substation will become another big hub for the transmission system supplying electricity from east to west.