By Kokila Dhakal
Ilam, Feb. 12: Maibeni Hydroelectricity Project, which is under construction at the Maikohla River in Ilam district, is set to generate electricity by mid-March this year.
The construction of 9.51 Megawatts (MW) project was disrupted in the wake of coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown last year.
"Lockdown affected us a lot. However, we have been working tirelessly so as to complete it at the earliest. We are poised to generate energy within a month," said Manager of the project Rajendra Raj Bharati.
According to him, as of now construction of infrastructure like tunnel, transmission line and sub-station has completed.
The project has constructed 350-metre-long penstock pipeline, along with 1 kilometer (km) and 1.4 km-long tunnels. The construction started in July 2019 with the aim of completing it by August 2021, but that is likely to happen about six months earlier.
Nepal SBI Bank and Siddartha Bank have provided about 75 per cent cost as loans to the 1.86 billion project. Remaining 25 per cent is promoters' share. It will generate 53.28 Gigawatt hour electricity in a year.
A 12 MW Upper Mai Hydropower and its 6 MW cascade project are already in operation at Maibeni.
Likewise, 7.8 MW Super Mai Hydro located at Dudhang Beshi has begun electricity generation from last year. Himal Dolakha Hydroelectricity Project (7.5 MW) and Sanima Mai Hydro Power (22 MW) and its cascade (8 MW) are in operation there.
Similarly, Super Mai, Super Mai Cascade, Sagarmatha, Maibeni and Puwakhola have 11 hydroelectricity projects in total in Ilam with a capacity to generate 86.97 MW power.