By Our Correspondent, Charikot, Apr. 14: The 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) is scheduled to generate 76 MW of electricity from mid-May.

Many people have likened this to the project’s New Year gift to all Nepalis.

The project is under construction at Lama Bagar of Vigu Rural Municipality-1 in Dolakha district for a decade now.

Dr. Ganesh Neupane, spokesperson for the project, said that the major construction of civil structures, such as dam, intake, main tunnel and power house, had been completed, along with technical tests of water-filled dams, sand thawing ponds and hydro-mechanical equipment such as gates and stop plugs.

He added that minor works related to civil and mechanical sides of the dam, like tunnel, transmission line and substation were in progress now, and that the target was to test the water in the main tunnel after completing all those works by April 28.

Stating that the test work would be completed within a week if there were no complex problems in the civil and hydro-mechanical structures while filling the water, he said that the first unit would start generating electricity within mid-May.

The project has six units, each having 76 MW.

He expressed his hope that the full 456 MW of electricity would be generated by completing the entire construction within the current fiscal year.