Nepal Infrastructure 
KATHMANDU: The construction of the 6.8 MW solar power project- the first solar power project being built to generate power for commercial purposes in Province-1, started in Hattimuda of Budhiganga Rural Municipality of Morang.
G-I Solar Company has been developing the project. Ganesh Dhungana, Executive Director of G-I Solar Company- developer company, said the preliminary stage works are being done to prepare the structure of the solar power project.
“We have started the construction work of the project recently,” he said, adding that about 20 percent of the work has been completed. The developer company is planning to complete all construction works within the next three months.
He said that the solar power project will be completed and power will be connected to the national grid system in the Duhabi sub-station by Tihar this year. The cost of this solar power project is estimated to be Rs 100 million.
Nepal Infrastructure Bank as the sole lender for the project is providing 70 percent of the project cost in loan.
The company will build the 5-km TL to the substation in Duhabi. The project requires 14 bighas of land for the construction of a solar plant. “Process of acquiring required land has been completed”, said Dhungana.
The plan has the capacity to generate 1.317 million units of electricity annually. The solar power project has entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Nepal Electricity Authority at a price of Rs 7.30 per unit.
This solar plant is being constructed by Kushal Projects Nepal Company which won the project contract under the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) modality.
This solar power project will be structured in such a way that it will be important not only for clean renewable energy production but also for agriculture. The solar panel is going to be placed at a certain height to plant agricultural produce on the ground below. Kushal Projects claims that this is probably the first solar power project being built keeping agriculture in mind.
