Nepal Infrastructure 
KATHMANDU: Construction works on two hydropower projects have been severely affected due to delays in the import of electromechanical equipment as China tightly regulates the cross-border flow of goods. The two projects being developed in the Rasuwa district – 14.8 MW Upper Sanjen and 42.5 MW Sanjen- are forced to repeatedly amend their project timeline including the Commercial Operation Date (CoD) due to the strict policy of the northern neighbor amid the persisting impact of Covid-19. Sunil Kumar Dhungel, Chief Executive Officer of Sanjen Jalvidyut Company (promoter company) said construction activities are badly affected as necessary equipment could not be imported on time and consequently their installations are delayed.
” Equipment meant for our project are stuck in Tibet for one and a half years pushing our deadline to achieve project targets,” he said.
He said that all the workers and technicians of the contractor company could not come to Nepal because the connecting equipment could not come. Dhungel said that the problem of import and transportation could not be solved even after the Chinese Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were asked to facilitate faster import of equipment.
Both projects are facing the problem of delay in importing and installing electromechanical equipment. According to the latest schedule, the 14.8 Mw upper Sanjen power generation time has been set for coming August. However, he said that this schedule would also be affected as the equipment installation work has not been completed in the project.
More than 96 percent of the upper Sanjen and 86 percent of Sanjen Projects have been completed. The construction of both projects started in 2012. Both of these were supposed to come into operation by now. However, these projects have not been completed even after a decade due to problems such as earthquakes, blockades, and Corona-19, among other obstacles.
