Myagdi — Eleven hydropower projects are under construction in Myagdi Khola, Rahughat, and Mistri Khola. Once these projects are completed, an additional 390 megawatts of electricity will be added to the national grid. In the past five years, four projects from Annapurna Rural Municipality in Myagdi alone have supplied 111 megawatts of electricity to the national transmission line.

Some of the under-construction projects will be connected to the central transmission line within this fiscal year, while others will be linked in the coming year. Meanwhile, some projects are preparing for tunnel excavation by constructing access roads.

Annapurna-4’s 40.7 MW Nilgiri First (N-1) and the 6 MW Rele Khola projects are in their final stages. “Four projects from our rural municipality have already been connected to the national grid. Two more will be connected within a year,” said Annapurna Rural Municipality Chairperson Bharat Kumar Pun. “Royalties have also started coming in from the projects connected to the grid. The local government will provide full support to other projects that are in the process.”

At the lower end of the Rahughat River, the 40 MW Rahughat Hydropower Project, the 37.5 MW Mangle Rahughat, the 48.5 MW Upper Rahughat, the 21.3 MW Thulokhola Hydropower Project, and at the highest point, the 22.5 MW Thulokhola Upper A Hydropower Project have achieved 70 to 95 percent physical progress.

“A project that once faced contract termination has now overcome its second major risk. With progress reaching 85–90 percent, the Rahughat project is now in its final stage,” said Ganesh KC, Managing Director of Raghu Ganga Hydro Limited. “Issues related to landslide-prone terrain, loose soil, and the availability of gravel and sand are being resolved, so we expect to start electricity production within a few months.”

In the Myagdi Khola watershed area, the 25 MW Darbanga Myagdi Khola Project and the 53 MW Upper Myagdi-1 Project are actively constructing tunnels. Similarly, on the same river, the 37 MW Upper Myagdi Khola and the 57 MW Myagdi Khola Hydropower Project have completed access road construction and began tunnel excavation this week.

“A wave of hydropower projects has arrived in Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality, which was once extremely underdeveloped. Locals who had never imagined motorable roads now have access routes. While many will benefit from electricity, the first beneficiaries are the people of Bagara, who previously had to travel by hanging from ropes,” said former Chairperson of Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality, Thamsara Pun. “Without these projects, we could not have imagined motorable roads reaching our villages anytime soon. Now, it has become a reality.”

In Annapurna Rural Municipality-4, the 42 MW Mistri Khola, 71 MW Nilgiri Cascade (N-2), 4 MW Ghalemdi Khola, and 14 MW Ghar Khola hydropower projects have collectively produced 111 MW of electricity, which has been connected to the national transmission line.

In the northern region of Myagdi, along a 37-kilometer stretch of the Kali Gandaki River flowing from Beni to the grasslands bordering Mustang, several projects are under construction with a total capacity of approximately 388 MW. These include the 164 MW Kali Gandaki Gharj, 50 MW Madhy Kali Gandaki, 58 MW Tiplyang Kali Gandaki, 65 MW Upper Kali Gandaki, and 50.53 MW Beni Kali Gandaki, all of which have signed purchase agreements with the Electricity Development Department.

The Kali Gandaki Gharj project has not been able to secure its investment, while the Beni Kali Gandaki project is facing delays due to obstructions in the alignment near Beni, the district headquarters of Myagdi. Additionally, more than half a dozen small and medium-sized projects have obtained electricity survey permits and are now waiting for the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Source: Kantipur