 |
Kathmandu Tuesday November 28, 2000 Mangshir 13, 2057.
|
His Majesty inaugurates Khimti-I
By Surendra Phuyal
KIRNETAR, Dolakha, Nov 27 - His Majesty King Birendra
formally inaugurated the Khimti-I hydro-electricity project, Nepal’s first private
sector power project, here on Monday amidst the chanting of holy text from the Veda.
Her Majesty Queen Aishwarya was also present at the function,
which was attended by an overwhelming number of government officials, diplomats, donors
and energy-hungry locals of this backwater district in the central hills.
Developed by Himal Power Limited (HPL), a Norwegian
undertaking, the run-of-river hydro-electric power generation plant has an installed
generating capacity of 60 MW and an annual production estimated at 350 million
kilowatt-hours (units) of electricity.
Addressing the inaugural function, Deputy Prime Minister Ram
Chandra Poudel announced that the government will soon introduce an investment-friendly
water resources policy, and called on private investors to harness the country’s vast
hydro-power potential which could later be sold out at an affordable price.
The DPM’s comments comes at a time when serious concerns
are being raised on the per unit price of electricity generated from Khimti-I project. The
per unit price of Khimti-I is among the costliest in the region, thanks largely to
inflation, leakage, and difficulty of constructing projects in the fragile Himalayan
environment.
Speaking at the function, Norwegian Deputy Minister for
International Development, Sigrun Mondegral expressed happiness over the successful
completion of the project - "first of its kind ever supported by the Norwegian
government," he said, adding, "the project represents something new: that Nepal
is slowly graduating from donor dependency."
The US $ 140 million HPL project is financed by the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Eksportfinans
a.s., the Norwegian Agency for Development) and the Nordic Development Fund. The
construction works of the project, which is also Nepal’s first project based on a
Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) structure, began seven years ago after Butwal Power
Company completed feasibility study.
Presenting his welcome speech, HPL Chairman Sverre Nygaard
expressed happiness that the project helped Nepal get rid of the problem of load-shedding
and said that the project will contribute to sustainable economic growth of Nepal.
HPL General Manager Harold O Skar also presented souvenirs -
a statue of water goddess and the national dress of Norway - to Their Majesties. The royal
couple also observed the project’s control room, model display room and the
underground power house.
Addressing the function, District Development Committee (DDC)
Chairman of Dolakha, Lal Bahadur K.C. said that the project is a big achievement for
Dolakhalis, but expressed deep concern that the very locals have been deprived of the
hydro-electric power.
"That this project contributed to bring an end to
load-shedding problem is indeed remarkable, and hence this project remains as a landmark
in the history of Nepal," K.C said. "But the locals have been deprived of the
opportunity to consume the electricity generated from their very own surrounding. The
locals’ demand is that first priority to consume power be granted to them."
Although HPL is said to be working on to electrify the
villages of Dolakha and Ramechhap districts that are located in and around the project
site, locals complain that neither the government nor HPL has looked into their key demand
- electricity supply to their houses.
HPL also operates a 500-KW mini-hydro plant, the Jhankre
plant, whereby 300 houses have been electrified. But locals here are demanding that all
the 43 villages - 21 of Dolakha and 22 of Ramechhap, through which the 33 KV transmission
line of the project passes - be electrified.
Other Stories
|
