The 44 MW Super Madi Hydroelectric Project has started supplying its 15 MW of electricity to the national grid since Saturday.

The project is situated in ward number 1 and 2 of Madi Rural Municipality of Kaski district, about 23 km north-east of Pokhara. According to the project, it will be supplying the aforementioned amount of electricity free of cost to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) for the next 15 days before it will move to commercial production.

Pushpa Jyoti Dhungana, chairman of the project, said they have been supplying their produce to the substation located in Lekhanath Municipality via 132 kV transmission line.

Super Madi will be producing 242.65 Gwh (242.65 million units) of electricity per year. As per the power purchase agreement inked with the NEA, it will be selling its produce to the authority at the rate of Rs 8.40 per unit for four months during winter while the rate has been fixed at Rs 4.80 per unit for remaining eight months of the year.

“Based on the PPA rates, the project is expected to earn Rs 1.30 billion annually by selling its produce,” Dhungana said.

Although a total cost of Rs 7.47 billion was earmarked for the project construction in the beginning, the cost has been projected to reach Rs 8.70 billion. Dhungana said the cost has soared mainly due to increased prices of construction materials caused by floods and Russia-Ukraine war.

According to him, the delayed construction due to flood incurred additional liability of Rs 470 million alone in interest cost against the banks’ loan. Likewise, the project faced an additional cost of Rs 200 million due to increased prices of construction materials and costs of management.