KATHMANDU: Nepal’s investment board has given approval to China Three Gorges International for the development of a 750 MW hydropower project on the West Seti River in Nepal’s northwestern Doti District.
HydroWorld.com reported in July 2007 that work on the West Seti plant was expected to begin by the end of that year, at which time the project was being developed by a subsidiary of Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp.SMEC received a concession to build the project in 1994, but surrendered the license in July 2012.
The project sat stagnant after China Three Gorges secured rights to its development until the Chinese conglomerate threatened to pull its support for West Seti earlier this year.Financing for the US$1.6 billion plant is being provided primarily by China Three Gorges and the Export-Import Bank of China. The investment represents China’s largest into Nepal, which is estimated to have at least 40,000 MW of hydroelectric potential.
Construction of the West Seti plant is expected to begin in 2015, with the plant’s first generating units coming on line in 2019. The majority of the project’s output is to be sold to Nepal.
