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China-Assisted Mega Hydropower Project In Nepal
By KTM Metro Reporter
November 27, 2013: CWE Investment: a subsidiary of power developer China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC): one of China's largest hydropower developers, has agreed to develop the 750 MW West Seti Hydropower Project in Nepal as a symbol of Nepal-China friendship. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Aug. 27, 2012, agreeing to complete the project by 2019, according to Xinhua news.
Investment Board of Nepal (IBN): a body mandated to commission hydropower projects having more than 500 MW capacities said that it was currently working to make an arrangement for resettlement of the households affected by the project.
"CWE Investment has asked the Nepalese government to take care of the resettlement issue on its own," joint secretary at IBN Mukunda Poudel told Xinhua, "So we are working towards this effect."
IBN officials said the government was planning to plead the Chinese government for the amount necessary to develop transmission lines to link the energy generated from the West Seti Hydropower Project to the national grid.
"We will request for a grant or soft loan from the Chinese government to construct transmission line for the West Seti Project," a senior official at Nepal's Finance Ministry told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Located in Nepal's far west, the reservoir project covers a number of districts such as Doti, Dadeldhura, Baitadi, Bajhang Kailali and Kanchanpur.
The government of Nepal has enlisted the West Seti as a top priority project to relieve the people from the power shortage.
The Exim Bank of China has already agreed to offer soft and commercial loans of 1.6 billion U.S. dollars for the construction of the project.
The IBN and the CWE has agreed on 10 percent equity to the local population in the country's far west, allocation of 150 MW of electricity from the project to the region and multipurpose benefits from the project, and also to explore possibilities of developing an industrial hub in the far west with assistance from CTGC.
