NHPC, VUCL sign MoU for development of hydro electric project in Nepal

In New Delhi, NHPC Limited (a Government of India Enterprise) and Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited (VUCL), Nepal, signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the development of the Phukot Karnali Hydroelectric Project (480 MW).

The MoU was signed in the presence of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

NHPC Limited, a Schedule ‘A’ enterprise of the Government of India with ‘MINI RATNA’ status, is a premier PSU in India for hydropower development, and Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited (VUCL), Nepal, is responsible for developing, building, owning, and operating large-scale hydropower projects in Nepal through a public-private partnership model.

The MOU was exchanged by R.K. Vishnoi, Chairman & Managing Director, NHPC, and Surya Prasad Rijal, Managing Director, VUCL. The signing of this MOU is a landmark step towards the India-Nepal Joint Vision on Power Sector Cooperation. The project will use the flow from the Karnali River for power generation, and the generated power will be fed into the integrated power system of Nepal. The installed capacity of the project shall be 480 MW, with an average annual generation of about 2448 GWh. The key features of the project are a 109-metre-high RCC dam and an underground power house where the six turbines of 79 MW each will be housed. Additionally, to utilise minimum environmental release, one surface power house of 6 MW capacity, i.e., two machines of 3 MW each, is also planned. This project is conceived as a peaking run-of-river (PRoR) type scheme.