Construction of Butwal-Lumbini transmission line completed

By Our Correspondent

Bhairahawa, Sept. 5:The construction of Butwal-Lumbini 132 kV transmission line has been completed. The 132 kV double-circuit transmission line from Yogikuti (Butwal) to Mainhiya was constructed to improve power supply in the Bhairahawa area of ​​Rupandehi and to control technical leakage. 

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal is scheduled to inaugurate the transmission line project on Monday.The Nepal Electricity Authority has already charged the 18-km Butwal-Lumbini transmission line from Butwal substation to Mainhiya substation and brought it into operation since July this year.

The new infrastructure can transmit about 200 megawatts of electricity.

A substation of 132/33/11 kV has been constructed in Mainhiya. 

There are two power transformers of 45 MVA capacity-- 33/11 kV and 16 MVA power transformers in the substation.

Hari Prasad Pandey, chief of the project, said that with the commissioning of the transmission line, the electricity supply in Butwal, Bhairahawa area will be improved and the 

NEA will be able to provide as much electricity to industries as they require.

According to the project, about 60 megawatts of electricity has been supplied to the industries and general people in the Bhairahawa area.

However, the demand for electricity from the industrial sector alone is 90 MW. The project is planned to supply 90 megawatts of electricity immediately with the completion of the project. 

Later, if the demand increases, 200 MW electricity can be supplied from Mainhiya substation, said the NEA.

Work to expand the transmission line has started for expansion and upgrading of electricity in Bhairahawa after the construction at Gautam Buddha International Airport began, in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha and Bhairahawa-Lumbini Industrial Corridor.

The initial work of the transmission line project had begun in the fiscal year 2070-071 B.S. There was some delay in the construction of the project due to route change and COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons.

A 132 kV double-circuit transmission line is being constructed from Mainhiya substation to India's Uttar Pradesh. The construction of the transmission line connecting Mainhiya substation to Sampatiya (New Nautanuwa) substation in Uttar Pradesh, India is in the final stage.

At present, Uttar Pradesh has only 33 kV transmission infrastructure, after the construction of Mainhiya-Sampatiya, cross-border electricity trade between Nepal and India will become easier.