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High-level maintenance work has started at the 50-megawatt Upper Marsyangdi ‘A’ Hydropower Project located in Marsyangdi Rural Municipality of Lamjung district.

According to project officials, the maintenance began on Saturday and is expected to take about one and a half months to complete.

The maintenance work includes repairs on the turbines at the power station and the dam area, said Dayaram Dahal, an interpreter of the project.

The hydropower plant has been in operation for about nine years and is equipped with two 25-megawatt Francis turbines each.

A technical team from China is currently carrying out the turbine maintenance.

Dahal said that one turbine will undergo a major overhaul, while the other will receive medium-level maintenance.

During the high-level maintenance, damaged machine components will not only be repaired but replaced with new ones. During the maintenance period, electricity will be generated from only one unit.

Repair work is also ongoing at the dam site of the run-of-river project, according to the project.

Nepali construction contractors are working in collaboration with Chinese company Bureau, while Chinese experts, engineers, and technicians are handling the turbine maintenance.

According to the project, sediment such as stones, soil, and sand carried by landslides during the monsoon season erodes the turbine blades. Therefore, maintenance is carried out every winter.

In the dry season, the project normally generates around 28 to 30 megawatts of electricity. Once the maintenance is completed, both turbines will resume full operation.

Construction of the project began in January 2013, and commercial electricity generation started in January 2017.

The project was constructed with 90 per cent investment from the Chinese multinational company Sinohydro and 10 per cent from Nepal’s Sagarmatha Hydropower Company.

Tong Qiangpo, head of the project’s production technology department, said the plant has been producing electricity above its expected annual generation of 33.5 million kilowatt-hours.

He added that the project has made a significant contribution to Nepal’s energy sector.

The electricity generated from the project is supplied to Kathmandu, Pokhara, and other regions, helping reduce power shortages, especially during the dry season.

According to Public Relations Officer of the project Karna Adhikari, the project has proved strong performance in terms of safety and production over the past eight years.

By Nabin Raj Kuikel