The state-owned power utility, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), plans to construct transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure for efficient, reliable and quality supply of power in Nepalgunj and Kohalpur areas of the Banke district.
The utility plans to build T&D lines and substations across voltage levels in a phase-wise manner to meet the potential demand of electricity in the areas till 2050. Based on the pace of current urbanisation and industrialisation in the regions, power consumption is expected to reach 800 MW by 2050. As the current T&D systems cannot provide reliable power supply in summer, the consumers in Nepalgunj area have been facing low voltage, and tripping problems. Therefore, NEA plans to construct a new 132 kV substation in Kohalpur, for which the required land has been acquired and bidders’ proposals are being evaluated for the selection of builders. NEA is also studying the feasibility of the 400/220 kV South Corridor transmission line from Lamahi in Dang near the Rapti River to Banke, and from Mainapokhri in Bardiya to Tikapur in Kailali, to address the demand for electricity in the Nepalgunj region. It also plans to build a high-capacity line from Kohalpur to Nanpara in India to increase cross-border electricity trade.