Kathmandu, April 6
The Dordi Corridor 132 kV double circuit transmission line, which was constructed to transmit electricity generated from Lamjung's Dordi River and its tributaries, has become fully operational.
Following the completion of the reconstruction of four towers that were damaged by the floods in the Dordi River in June of 2022, the transmission line is now fully operational and capable of transmitting an estimated 300 megawatts of electricity.
Due to expected time required for the reconstruction of the damaged towers, the Nepal Electricity Authority had commissioned a partial section of the transmission line, extending from Udipur in the Besisahar Municipality of Lamjung to the Kirtipur substation in the Dordi Rural Municipality, since August.
As an alternative arrangement, the electricity generated by privately-built hydropower projects was connected through a 3.5-kilometre transmission line belonging to the Dordi Khola-1 project.
Ramesh Poudel, chief of the project, announced that all privately-owned hydropower projects constructed in the Dordi Khola area have been connected to the national grid via the Dordi Corridor transmission line, after the reconstruction of damaged towers was completed.
All four hydroelectric power projects - the 27-megawatt Dordi Khola, 25-megawatt Upper Dordi 'A', 12-megawatt Dordi Khola-1, and 8.63-megawatt Chepe Khola small hydropower project - are now connected to the transmission line.
As part of the final phase of construction, the 54-megawatt Super Dordi 'Kha' hydropower project, as well as other projects currently under construction or planned to be built in the same corridor, will also be connected to this transmission line.
As the construction of the Udipur substation would take some time, an alternative arrangement has been implemented to connect electricity to the national grid through the switchyard of the Middle Marsyangdi hydropower project. To achieve this, nearly six kilometres of transmission line from the under-construction 220 kV Marsyangdi Corridor has been utilised.
The aim is to have the Udipur substation operational by July as construction is currently in its final phase.
The government has invested in the construction of the Dordi Corridor transmission line, which spans approximately 10 kilometres and is estimated to cost around Rs 850 million.
The project has constructed a 132 kV, 10 MVA capacity substation in Kirtipur. The four transmission line towers were completed in 2021.The project was initiated in the year 2017.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 7, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
