Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is going to expand and improve the electricity transmission and distribution system in the urban areas of the Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara with the concessional loan from the Japanese government.

Five new substations of 132 kV capacity will be built with about 14.2 billion rupees (1.59 billion Japanese yen) received from the Japanese government. More than 15 km of 132 kV transmission lines will be laid underground in the urban areas.

With the help of Japan, substations of 132 /11 kV will be constructed at Thapathali, Maharajganj, Narayanhiti Palace Museum and Sirutar in the Kathmandu Valley and Birauta in Pokhara. The subsidized loan received for the implementation of the urban transmission and distribution system improvement project has an annual interest rate of 0.01 percent, 30 years of repayment and a grace period of 10 years. Through the implementation of the project, the transmission leakage in cities including Kathmandu and Pokhara will be reduced, the capacity of the distribution system will be expanded, and the power supply will be reliable and of high quality.

Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar, on behalf of the Government of Nepal, and Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, on behalf of the Government of Japan signed the Exchange Letter and Record of Discussion for the implementation of the project on Wednesday. Similarly, the loan agreement was signed by Ishwari Prasad Aryal, joint secretary of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, and Okubo Akimitsu, senior representative of JICA Nepal.

Through the project, about 2 km of 132 kV transmission line will be brought underground from the substation at Teku in Kathmandu to the switching station at Thapathali. The Thapathali switching station will be removed and a 132/11 kV substation will be constructed there. The capacity of the substation will be 90 MVA.

9/10 feeders will be removed from the substation for power distribution. The 132 kV transmission line from Balaju substation will be brought to Narayanhiti Palace Museum via Maharajgunj through over 9 km underground cable. One each of 132/11 kV substations will be constructed at Maharajgunj and Narayanhiti Palace Museum. The capacity of the substation will be 60/60 MVA. Similarly, a 132 /11 kV substation will be constructed at Sirutar in Bhaktapur. The capacity of the substation will be 60 MVA. Similarly, 9/10 feeders will be taken out from all the three substations for local power distribution.

To make Pokhara's electricity supply reliable and qualitative, a 132/11 kV substation will be constructed in Pokhara Metropolitan City-17, Birauta. The authority will supply the electricity flowing from the Kaligandaki-Lekhnath 132 kV transmission line to the urban areas of ??Pokhara by constructing a substation at Birauta. About 600 meters of line from the transmission line to the substation will be underground. The land of Phewa Power Plant located in Birauta will be used for the construction of the substation.