China-invested hydropower plant starts operation in Nepal
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E-mail Xinhua, December 31, 2016
Upper Madi Hydropower Project, a China-Nepal joint venture company, started generating power on Friday, giving much-needed boost to the government's effort to reduce load shedding in this winter.
The 25MW power plant is the second China-invested power project in Nepal coming online in the past three months.
Earlier, 50MW Upper Marsyangdi-A Hydroelectric Project, developed by another China-Nepal joint venture company, had started operation in September.
Energy Minister Janardan Sharma inaugurated the Upper Madi plant site in Kaski district in western Nepal on Friday.
Sharma said the development of hydropower projects with the participation of private sector was helping reduce the load shedding in the country.
China International Water & Electric Co (CWE) has bankrolled the project under the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model together with Nepalese investor Bijay Babu Malla.
CWE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), is also developing the 750MW West Seti Hydropower Project. Chinese contractor Sino Hydro started the construction work in December 2012.
Malla said the completion of the plant would encourage them to make investment further. "We are now also studying the possibility of investing in another 98MW hydel project," he told Xinhua.
According to the Independent Power Producers of Nepal (IPPAN), private sector power producers added 140MW of power in 2016.
"The Chinese companies investing in partnership with Nepalese investors is great news for Nepal," said IPPAN President Khadga Bahadur Bisht. "We are also finding growing interest among Chinese investors to make investment in Nepal's hydropower sector."
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