Arun-III Hydro Power Project:
The 900 MW Arun III Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal, constructed with Indian assistance, recently achieved a significant milestone with a tunnel breakthrough.
- Arun-III Hydro Power Project is a 900 MW run-of-the-river hydropower project being constructed on the Arun River in Sankhuwasabha District of Eastern NEPAL.
- Arun is a tributary of the Koshi River in Nepal.
- The project comprises a 70-meter-tall and 466-meter-long concrete gravity dam and a Head Race Tunnel (HRT) of 11.74 km with underground an power house containing four generating units of 225 MW each on left bank.
- It is being developed with Indian assistance at a cost of Rs. 144 billion.
- Once completed, it will be the biggest hydroelectric facility in Nepal.
- It is being developed on a build-own-operate-and-transfer (BOOT) basis by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Arun-III Power Development Company (SAPDC), a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of Himachal Pradesh.
- SAPDC will operate the facility for a period of 25 years, excluding the construction period of five years, before transferring ownership to the Nepal government.
- Nepal will receive 21.9% of the electricity generated at the power plant as free power during these initial 25 years of commercial operations.
- The output from the power plant will be transferred to Muzaffarpur in India through a 317 km-long 400 kV double circuit transmission line.
