Nepal Infrastructure 
KATHMANDU: The 25 MW solar power project being developed by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in Nuwakot has reached the completion stage. The construction period was five years since the signing of the contract. Project chief Vikas Raghubansi said that preparations are being made to connect electricity from the final sites to the national grid within the next two weeks.
Construction work of 6 out of 7 locations of the solar power project has been completed so far. 9.76 MW of electricity from the first site came into the system on January 18, 2019, while 1.28 MW of the second site was connected to the system on February 16, 2019. Raghubansi stated that the third (2.18 MW), fourth (1.96 MW), fifth (1.96MW), and sixth (2.48MW) sites were connected to the transmission system in October, March, and May of 2021 respectively.
“Total 19.42 MW of six sites has been connected to the transmission system while the remaining 5.58 MW of the seventh site will be connected soon,” Raghubansi said. The power of the completed solar power project has been connected to the switchyard of the Devighat Hydropower Center. This solar power project is being constructed with the concessional loan assistance of the World Bank under the Grid Solar and Energy Efficiency Project. Raghubansi said that when the solar power project is completed, the total cost of the project will reach Rs 160 million.
This solar power project seems to be expensive compared to the solar power projects built by the private sector. Similar solar power projects are built by the private sector at the cost of around Rs 80 million.
