ADB to lend US$ 150 m for reservoir-based hydropower project

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is lending US$150 million out of an US$500 million project that will build a hydropower plant with a 140 MW capacity.

The 140 MW hydropower plant, to be located around 150 kilometers west of Kathmandu on the Seti River in Tanahu district, will generate electricity year round, said ADB in a press statement.

“Nepal has an energy crisis, and this is affecting badly economic prospects,” said Yongping Zhai, director, Energy Division in ADB’s South Asia Department. “This energy project is a means to stop this crisis.”

To ensure steady supply even during the dry winter months of November through April, the plant will be fed from a 7.26 square kilometer reservoir, making it Nepal’s first major hydropower plant with water storage capacity and a sediment flushing system, said ADB.

Similarly, after the construction of plant and a transmission system, the project will also provide at least 17,636 homes in the area of the hydropower plant with direct connections to the national power grid.

The entire project will cost around US$500 million and will be co-funded by ADB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency lending, the European Investment Bank, and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. Nepalnews.com