Golyan Group, a leading private sector enterprise in Nepal, is constructing six different solar plants to generate 60-MW electricity in three districts of Lumbini Province.

The projects are being constructed in Banke, Dang and Kapilvastu districts.

Speaking with the media while briefing on the solar project being constructed in Ward No. 8 of Khajura Rural Municipality in Banke, Prawin Aryal, chief executive officer of Energy Division at Golyan Group, said that two projects with 10-MW capacity each were being constructed in Banke.

“Of the two projects in Banke, one has been completed and connected with the national grid. The second project is in the final stage,” said Aryal.

According to Banke’s project chief CB Yadav, the electricity will be sent to the national grid regularly from the completed project after two weeks as the testing process was completed recently.

“The second project will be completed within two months,” said Yadav.

Aryal informed that the group was working to construct two similar projects each in Dang’s Satbariya and Kapilvastu’s Chandrauta.

Citing that the government was causing a delay for Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the energy produced in Dang and Kapilvastu, Aryal said, “If the agreement is reached, we can add 40-MW electricity to the national grid in the next one-and-a-half years.”

Golyan Group informed that they had already procured 44 bighas of land in Chandrauta and started necessary construction process and land procurement process was underway in Dang.

The group also accused the government bodies for creating unnecessary hurdles and causing delay for a private company to complete important development works at the earliest.

“Golyan Group is currently planning 14 different solar projects to produce more than 800-MW electricity in the next eight years,” said Aryal.

During Aryal’s visit, Khajura Rural Municipality chairman Dambar Bahadur BK and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) officials had also inspected the site. He assured the group to provide necessary support from the local government as it was a pride project for Banke.

“It is a great initiative by a private company. There is a good environment for solar power generation in Terai districts of Western Nepal, including Banke,” said Madhav Adhikari, an engineer at the NEA.