Construction of 400 KV Hetauda substation has been completed in Hetauda sub-metropolitan city of Makwanpur-11 Thanabhayang for the strengthening and expansion of electricity transmission and distribution system within the country. Nepal’s third largest 400 KV Hetauda substation, based on gas insulated system (GIS) technology, has been completed and put into operation from Friday. Similarly, construction of 220 and 132-11 KV substations in Thanabhayangmani from Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project was completed and charged on Friday itself.

To make the east-west power supply reliable and quality within the country and for electricity trade with India, Dhalkebar is the first automatic Dhalkebar substation in the country, Inaruwa is the second and Hetauda is the third largest substation in the country.

With the completion of the construction of the Hetaunda substation, the infrastructure structure capable of supplying about 4,000 megawatts of electricity has been prepared. After the completion of the Hetauda-Dhalkebar-Inruwa 400 KV transmission line project, 4000 megawatts of electricity can be transmitted from Dhalkebar east to west. Under the project, the construction of Dhalkebar-Inaruwa section is in the final stage, while Hetauda-Dhalkebar section is under construction. The construction of the transmission line is not being completed due to the obstruction of the locals in the 15th, 16th, 17th and 11th wards of Hetauda sub-metropolitan city. Construction is being done in places where there are no obstacles.

Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, Kulman Ghising, said that since electricity will be supplied locally from Hetaunda substation, it will help to make electricity supply more reliable and quality in Hetauda, Bharatpur, Simra and Birgunj areas.

Managing Director Ghisingh said, ‘The electricity produced by the hydropower projects of the river corridor in the central region of Nepal will flow into the national transmission grid and the electricity saved for consumption in the country will be easier to export to India through the Hetauda-Dhalkebar 400 kV transmission line. It will provide ease for the flow.’

Shukar Devkota, the head of the project, said that the Hetaunda substation has been built in such a way that it can be further expanded in the future as per the need. The 400 KV double circuit transmission line to be built from Ratmate in Nuwakot by the American aid project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be connected to Hetaunda substation. Devkota, the project head, mentioned that the necessary infrastructure has been constructed at Hetauda substation.

Hetauda, Dhalkebar Inruwa 400 KV under the National Electricity Development Decade Program with the joint investment of the government and the authority. Substation expansion project was started. All three substations under the project have been completed.

In December 2018, the contract was awarded for the construction of Hetauda 400 KV substation. A contract agreement was signed in December 2018 for the construction of 220-132-11 KV Hetauda substation, which was built by the Nepal India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project with the investment of the government and the authority and the concessional loan of the World Bank. The estimated cost of 400, 220 and 132 KV Hetaunda substations is three billion rupees.

Construction was affected by the global spread of the corona epidemic and the restrictions imposed for its control and prevention. Due to the corona epidemic, the various equipment and technicians to connect the substation reached the project site at the predetermined time and there was some delay in the construction of the project due to other reasons.