Infrastructure

Tamakoshi Hydropower Company has awarded the contract for the Tamakoshi-5 Hydropower Project to Sino Hydro Corporation Limited.

Binod Bhandari, the company CEO, has said that a financial evaluation on Tuesday revealed Sino Hydro to have submitted the lowest bid. 

"Sino Hydro is likely to be awarded the contract as its proposal is the lowest price for the project. However, it will be finalised only after the evaluation committee presents its report," he said. 

On July 25, 2022, the company invited tenders for civil structure and hydro-mechanical works.
Four builders submitted their bids for the construction of the project.

Sino Hydro and China Gejuwa Company Limited both passed the proposal's technical requirements. The bidding procedure had been delayed for some time due to a complaint filed by China First Highway Engineering Corporation Limited after its proposal failed the technical evaluation. 

Sino Hydro had also completed civil structure work on the 456MW Upper Tamakoshi project – Nepal's largest hydroelectric project. In addition, it was awarded the contract to construct the Melamchi Water Supply Project after the Italian builder, Cooperativa Muratori Cementisti di Ravenna, abandoned it. 

It has also been awarded the contract to build the powerhouse of the 140 MW Tanahun Hydroelectric Project.

The Tamakoshi-5 Hydropower Project is currently being constructed using the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model. As it encompasses the detailed design, procurement, construction, and operation of the project, it places greater responsibility on the construction company.

The project will be constructed in two stages. In the first phase, the civil structure and hydromechanical work will be completed, and in the second, the electromechanical work will be performed. Subsequently, a transmission line will be installed to evacuate the electricity to the national transmission system.

It is a cascade project in which water from the Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project's tailrace will be routed directly to the Tamakoshi tunnel. So there is no need to create headworks. Similar to the Upper Tamakoshi, it is a semi-reservoir hydroelectric project.

Around 8-km long tunnel will need to be constructed for this project. A power plant will be built in a location called Suri Dovan. The company claims that there will be less environmental damage because the majority of the project's buildings, including the powerhouse, will be underground, similar to the Upper Tamakoshi.

The cost of the project is estimated at Rs20 billion, of which 70 per cent will be debt and the rest being raised through equity. The Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh (Employees' Provident Fund) has already agreed to extend loans worth approximately Rs13 billion. The project's financial closure is pending the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

The project's preliminary works, including the construction of the site office, are underway. Construction is planned to begin in earnest next year. The company plans to begin commercial production four years after construction begins.