The 132/33/11 kilovolt (kV) substation infrastructure, constructed at the New Khimti substation, located in Manthali Municipality-13, Sankhe, in Ramechhap district, has come into operation.

The substation, built for local electricity supply under the Ramechhap (Garjyang) - New Khimti 132 kV transmission line project, came into operation on Thursday. The two power transformers of 30 MVA capacity each and one power transformer of 33/11 kV, 6/8 AVA capacity are kept in the substation, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Five feeder lines of 33 kV and three feeder lines of 11 kV have been connected from the substation supply power in the local area.

The 33 kV feeder was charged on Thursday and the electricity supply has been started in Manthali and Doramba of Ramechhap and some parts of Dolakha district. According to the NEA, the electricity will be supplied to Khimti Rural Electricity Cooperative through a feeder line of 11 kV.

The Cooperative has electrified some areas of Dolakha and Ramechhap districts. The new Khimti substation of 220/132 kV capacity was constructed by the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, operating in Dolakha.

However, since there is no provision for local electricity supply in the substation, the NEA has constructed a substation infrastructure of 132/33/11 kV. After the preparation of 132/33 kV infrastructure, power supply to the locals has started from the New Khimti substation.

The electricity generated from the hydropower projects, including Khimti, those along the Likhu River corridor along with Upper Tamakoshi is connected with the New Khimti substation. The electricity supplied from these projects to the New Khimti substation has been reduced to 33 and 11 kV through 132/33 kV substations and supplied locally.

The rest of the electricity is supplied through 220 kV transmission line to Dhalkebar in Dhanusha and through 132 kV line to Lamosanghu substation in Sindhupalchowk. Managing Director of NEA Kul Man Ghising said with the operation of the New Khimti substation, electricity supply to Ramechhap and other districts, is expected to improve.

The electricity of the hydroelectric projects connected to the New Khimti substation had been supplied to the national transmission system through the Lamosanghu of Sindhupalchowk and Dhalkebar of Dhanusha and the excess power was exported to India through Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur. Due to the lack of infrastructure to supply power to the locals in New Khimti, despite having a large substation in their own district, the consumers of that area were deprived of reliable and quality electricity consumption,” he said.

But now, with the power supply starting from the New Khimti, the problems in the electricity supply will be solved and consumers here will get quality electricity, he said. The length of the 33 kV transmission line from Dhalkebar to Manthali is about 80 km.

The consumers of Ramechhap and Sindhuli were facing problems such as tripping and low voltage due to long and dense lines. Anup Gautam, chief of the project, said, “Now that the power supply is going to start from New Khimti, the length of the line will be reduced, and the power supply in that area will be improved and maintenance of the line will be easier.” Electricity will be supplied from the new Khimti substation to the Khurkot substation in Sindhuli.

After that, the power supply of Sunkoshi, Golanchor and Phikkal Rural Municipality of Sindhuli, which are supplied with electricity from Khurkot substation, will also be improved. Now all those areas are being supplied with electricity from the line coming through the Dhalkebar substation.

The construction of 132-33 kV substation infrastructure in New Khimti was started in the fiscal year 2019/20. The cost of the substation, built with the investment of the government and the NEA, is around Rs. 800 million.