Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN) and the Investment Board of Nepal have signed an MoU for the execution of 679 MW Lower Arun Hydro Electric Project in Nepal, the Ministry of Power said on Monday.
SJVN won the project through international competitive bidding, defeating other companies of the neighbouring countries, the Ministry said in a statement.
“India is also endeavouring creation of a common pool for regional power grid and energy market in the neighbouring countries for regional peace and improvement of optimum utilisation of generation assets,” it said.
The Lower Arun project is located in Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur districts of Nepal. The project will have four francis type turbines. On completion, the project will generate 2,970 million units of electricity per annum. It is scheduled to be completed in four years after commencement of construction activities and has been allocated to SJVN for 25 years on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer basis.
This is the second project awarded to SJVN in Nepal, the first one being the 900 MW Arun 3 Hydro Electric Project in Sankhuwasabha district. It is the largest investment of around ₹7000 crores by India in Nepal, the Ministry said. The power from this under-construction project will be evacuated to India through the 400 kV double circuit transmission line to Sitamarhi in Bihar, India, also being constructed by SAPDC.
SJVN’s present installed capacity is 2016.51 MW and the firm aims to raise it to 5000 MW by 2023, 12000 MW by 2030 and 25000 MW by 2040.