Millennium Challenge Account Nepal (MCA-N) has expedited the work for the construction of three 400 kV substations. The agency is now in the final stage of land acquisition for these substations.

According to the US-based Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)’s agency in Nepal, it is constructing substations in Ratamate of Nuwakot, Damauli of Tanahu and Butwal of Rupandehi districts.

Rajiv Dahal, information officer of MCA-N, said they have acquired 400 ropanis of land in Ratamate, Nuwakot and have already provided the land owners with the compensation amount of Rs 1.42 billion. The substation will be connected to the proposed 400 kV Rasuwagadhi-Kerung cross border transmission line at Nepal-China border.

According to the MCA-N, the compensation distribution is in progress in the remaining two locations. Dahal said the construction of substations will go faster as it will require small land areas compared to those of the transmission lines. He added that the MCA-N has maintained separate standards for construction of transmission lines, substations and road stretches, which are the three major components of the US funded project.

The MCA based project is installing transmission lines and substations in 10 districts of the country. On November 28, it called for a global tender to construct 315 km long transmission lines, the deadline for which has been set for March 27, 2023.

The MCC Compact, which courted huge controversy and was opposed by a section of people in Nepal, has provided the country with a grant amount of US $500 million to construct high-powered transmission lines and to upgrade selected highways. The government will be investing $130 million from its side in the five-year long projects under the MCC Compact.

Nepal will meet the target of producing 3,000 MW of electricity by this FY end: NEA

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has said the country’s electricity production capacity will reach 3,000 MW by this fiscal year end.

A total of 2,190 MW is being supplied to the national grid as of now. According to the state-owned utility, an additional 800 MW of electricity will be added to the system in the next six months. In the last fiscal year, 600 MW of electricity was connected to the national grid.

Kulman Ghising, managing director of the NEA, said the capacity will hit 3,000 MW although there might be a minor variation due to technical reasons.

The government has projected that the country’s total production will reach 4,742 MW in the next five years. In the timeline, Nepal will be producing an additional 900 MW in 2023/24, 742 MW in 2024/25 and 822 MW in 2025/26. Likewise, the country will be producing 732 MW and 738 MW of electricity, respectively, in the next two consecutive years.