Myagdi. The much-awaited Rahughat Hydropower Project of Myagdi has reached the phase of trial production in a period of one and a half decades since it started. The project, which was started for the first time with a capacity of 32 MW, is going to be completed after one and a half decades due to problems of contractors, contract cancellation, restructuring, selection of new contractors, corona epidemic, floods, landslides, shortage of river-based construction materials, etc.

Raghuganga Hydropower Project, a subsidiary company of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), constructed at Raghuganga Rural Municipality in Myagdi district has been successful.

Managing Director of Raghuganga Hydro, Ganesh KC, said that the project has started supplying power to the central grid after testing of two units with 20÷20 MW capacity on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We have connected both the units to the central transmission line by running them at full capacity. “As per the agreement with the Nepal Electricity Authority, commercial production will start after 15 days of test production. ’

A dam, a 6-kilometer-long main tunnel and two water storage ponds have been constructed at the foothills of Raghuganga Rural Municipality-4, Dagnam and Ward No. 5. The powerhouse is located at Tilkenichaur of Raghuganga Rural Municipality-3 near the Beni-Jomsom road in the Kaligandaki corridor.

Project chief Raj Bahadur Bista said that an 11-kilometer access road has been constructed from Tilkenichaur to the dam site via Ghumunetala, Piple, Mauwaphant and Bugla and a bailey bridge has been constructed at Rahughat. Necessary structures have been constructed to connect the 220 KV (double circuit) Dana-Kusma transmission line under the switchyard and Kaligandaki corridor in the power house premises.

The power purchase agreement (PPA) of the project was signed in April 2018 with a target of generating 240.593 million units of electricity annually.

Journey started with IVRCL

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had signed a civil contract agreement with Indian construction company IVRCL on November 3, 2006 for Rs 2.5 billion for the construction of Rahughat Hydropower Project. If IVRCL had worked as per the agreement, Rahughat would have started generating electricity in 2070 BS.

The NEA canceled the contract with IVRCL in 2072 BS after it could not work due to poor financial condition. The physical progress of the project was limited to 12 percent in five years when the contract was terminated.

The NEA decided to restructure the project and increase the capacity from 32 MW to 40 MW and proceed with the construction on the company model. Despite facing litigation, the cancellation of the contract with IVRCL became the first major turning point in the construction journey of the Rahughat project.

New start in company model

After the cancellation of the contract of IVRCL, the NEA established a subsidiary company Raghuganga Hydropower Limited in 2073 BS and started the project. The process of constructing Rahughat in Engineering, Procurement and Contact (EPC) format has been initiated with the concessional loan of USD 67 million from Exim Bank of India and the investment of Nepal Electricity Authority and the Government of Nepal.

The contract was signed with Jaya Prakash Associates (JP), an Indian company, on November 23, 2017 at a cost of Rs 6 billion, with a target to complete the project within 45 months.

The construction of the approach road was started from June 2075 BS and the tunnel was started from June 23, 2076 through the third number audit at Piple. The main tunnel of Rahughat was connected on July 30, 2081 BS.

MS Gaur, manager of civil contractor Jayaprakash Associates, said that the construction of the project has been delayed due to natural disasters like corona epidemic, floods, landslides and shortage of river-based construction materials. The electromechanical contract agreement was signed with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in October 2019 for USD 10.293 million. BHEL is a company owned by the Government of India.

President of Myagdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Subin Shrestha, said Rahughat was the first place in the district with government investment and was taken as the entry point to the development of hydropower in the district.

“After the start of Rahughat, 10 projects have been completed in Myagdi. “We are excited by the news that the Rahughat hydropower project has reached the stage of power generation after a decade and a half,” he said. ’