KATHMANDU, Sept 25: The 40-megawatt Rahughat Hydropower Project has been connected to the national transmission system.
Raghuganga Hydropower Limited, a subsidiary of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), built the project in Raghuganga Rural Municipality, Myagdi. The project’s two 20-megawatt units have started generating electricity and have been connected to the national transmission system since Wednesday.
The electricity generated by the project has been fed into the national transmission grid through the Kaligandaki Corridor 220 kV transmission line.
According to the electricity purchase and sale agreement between the project and the NEA, trial production will now be carried out. After 15 days of testing, commercial electricity production is expected to begin.
All units of Upper Tamakoshi connected to national grid
NEA Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Raghuganga Hydropower Limited, Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, said that the project was completed through continuous efforts despite challenges such as difficult geographical conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic and floods.
He said that since the project can operate at full capacity for four hours daily during the evening, when electricity demand is high, it will make an important contribution to managing electricity demand during the dry season.
The project will generate 247.9 million units of electricity annually. About 34 percent of its total annual energy generation will be produced during the dry season.
The estimated cost of the project, excluding interest during the construction period, is Rs 9.17 billion. The project is financed through investments from the Government of Nepal and the Nepal Electricity Authority, along with a concessional loan obtained under a line of credit from India's Exim Bank.
Indian civil contractor company Jaiprakash Associates (JP) signed a contract worth Rs 6 billion for the project. The initial agreement was signed on November 17, 2017, with a 45-month completion target. However, the project timeline was extended for the first time in February 2022 and again in June 2024.
As the construction could not be completed within the revised deadlines, the deadline was extended for a third time in July 2025, with completion targeted for November 27, 2025.
The deadline has now been extended for a fourth time, with the project nearing completion.
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