Sona Khola Hydropower Project (9MW)
Project Introduction
The Company i.e. Himali Hydro Fund Ltd. (HHFL) is developing the Project i.e. Sona Khola Hydropower Project- 9 MW (SKHPP). Project is located in Mikwakhola rural municipality ward no.- 5 of Taplejung district, Koshi Pradesh, Nepal. Project was initially identified in Dec. 2015 since then the company formation & Licensing work was started consequently in 11th Oct. 2017 Survey License was received from the DOED. After the application for Survey License the Feasibility study was started by hiring
the consultant called Gorkha Hydro Engineering Pvt. Ltd. and finally Feasibility Study was completed in Jan., 2018. In one hand Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) study was parallelly started by hiring theconsultant called Green Globe International Pvt. Ltd., In other hand Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) procedure was started. Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has done with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in 28th June, 2018 with sales guaranteed “Take or Pay” category. Similarly, IEE study report was approved in 8th Sept., 2021 from the DOED. Detail Project Report (DPR) was prepared in Sept. 2021 by hiring consultant called Units Engineering Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. Due Diligence Audit (DDA) of the Project has been completed on 10th December 2023 and has been carried out by Sanima Hydro & Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Project has been planned to develop by investing 30% equity and 70% bank loan. For the bank loan, Syndicated Credit Facility Agreement (SCFA) has been signed with Sanima Bank Ltd. in 11th January, 2024. The project has plan to issue Initial Public Offering (IPO) within December 2025 (Poush, 2082).The 35 years Generation License of project (SKHPP) has received from Department of Electricity Development (DOED), Ministry of Water Resource and Energy (MoWRE) in 12th Jan., 2022. Company (HHFL) has started construction of project (SKHPP) from 15th Jan., 2022. The Required Commercial Operation Date (RCOD) i.e. project’s targeted completion date is 13th April, 2026(28th Chaitra, 2082).
Salient features of Sona Khola Hydropower Project:
| 1. Project Location | ||
| Location | : | Mikwakhola Gaupalika, Ward no. 5, Taplejung District, Province no. 1, Nepal |
| Geographical Co-ordinates Latitude | : | 27° 33' 28" to 27° 34' 00" North |
| Longitude | : | 87° 38' 27" to 87° 40' 08" East |
| 2. Power Development | ||
| Name of River | : | Sona Khola and Khahare Khola |
| Nearest Town | : | Taplejung Bazar |
| Type of Power Generation | : | Run of River |
| Gross Head | : | 570.00 m |
| Installed Capacity | : | 9,000 kW |
| Average Annual Energy after Outage | : | 56.68 GWh |
| Average Wet Energy | : | 37.48 GWh (66.12% out of yearly energy production) |
| Average Dry Energy | : | 19.20 GWh (33.87% out of yearly energy production) |
| 3. Hydrology | ||
| Catchment Area at Intake | : | 40.2 km2 |
| Design Discharge (at 45% PoE) | : | 1.92 m3/s (Including Khahare Khola) |
| Riparian Release (10%) | : | 0.080 m3/s |
| Design Flood Discharge | : | 103.50 m3/s (200 years flood) |
| Average Annual Precipitation | : | 2205 mm |
| 4. Diversion Weir | ||
| Type of Weir | : | Boulder Rip Rap |
| Length of Weir | : | 18.00 m |
| Weir Crest Elevation | : | EL2705.0 masl |
| Spillway type | : | Free overflow |
| 5. Intake Structure & Gravel Trap | ||
| Type of Intake | : | Side Intake (Orifice type) |
| Nos of Opening | : | Two |
| Size of Gravel Trap | : | 6.0 m L * 3.5 m W * 2.5 m H |
| Particle size to be trapped | : | 2mm and greater |
| 6. Settling Basin | ||
| Type | : | Double chamber with Intermittent flushing |
| Dimension (L x B x H) | : | 38.0 m x 4.0 m x 4.0 m (Each) |
| Inlet Gate (B x H) | : | 1.35 m x 1.5 m |
| Inlet Transition Length | : | 10.0 m |
| Particle Size to be settled | : | 0.15 mm |
| Trapping Efficiency | : | 0.9 |
| 7. Headpond Portion | ||
| Type | : | Rectangular |
| Size of head pond | : | 7.5m L * 7.5 m W * 4.5 m H |
| Normal Water Level | : | EL 2704.70 m |
| Waterways | ||
| 8. Headrace Pipe | ||
| Type | : | MS Pipe (Circular) |
| Internal Diameter | : | 1200 mm and 1100 mm |
| Thickness | : | 8 mm |
| Length | : | 1200 mm dia. for 1085 m and 1100 mm dia. for 522.44 m, total HRP length=1607.44m |
| 9. Surge Pipe | ||
| Type | : | Inclined Surge Pipe |
| Size | : | 2m dia. Pipe |
| Static Water Level | : | 2705.0 masl |
| Normal Operation Level | : | 2701.16 masl |
| Down Surge Level | : | 2696.20 masl |
| Upsurge Surge Level | : | 2711.17 masl |
| Surge Pipe Length | : | 63.95 m |
| 10. Steel Penstock Pipe | ||
| Main Pipe | ||
| Type | : | Mild steel (Circular) |
| Internal Diameter | : | 1100 mm and 1000 mm dia. pipe |
| Length | : | 1100 mm dia. for 562.68 m and 1000 mm for 1080 m, total length 1642.68 m |
| Pipe Thickness | : | 8 to 28 mm |
| Nos. of Anchor Blocks | : | 34 |
| Nos. of Saddle Supports | : | 22 |
| Bifurcated pipe | ||
| Type | : | Mild steel (Circular) |
| Internal Diameter | : | 700 mm |
| Length | : | 19.5 m |
| Pipe thickness | : | 20 mm (Material : IS 2062E350BR) |
| Nos. of Anchor Blocks | : | 2 |
| 11. Powerhouse | ||
| Type | : | Surface (Concrete frame structure) |
| Size (L x W) | : | 24.0m x 13.50m |
| Height | : | 16.5 m |
| Turbine Axis Level | : | EL 2135.00 masl |
| 12. Tailrace | ||
| Type | : | RCC rectangular |
| Size (W x D x L) | : | 1.8 m W x 1.2 m D x 48.0 m L |
| Slope | : | 0.42 |
| Tailrace Water Level | : | EL 2132.75 masl |
| 13. Turbine | ||
| Type | : | Two Jet Pelton Runner (Horizontal Axis) |
| Number | : | 2 |
| 14. Generator | ||
| Type | : | 3 Phase, Synchronous Generator with Cylindrical Pole, |
| Rated Output Capacity per Unit | : | 5360 kVA |
| Specification | : | 11 Kv Voltage, 50 Hz Frequency, 0.85 Power Factor |
| No of Units | : | 2 |
| Excitation System | : | Brushless |
| Efficiency | : | 0.96 |
| 15. Transformer | ||
| At Powerhouse | ||
| Type | : | 3-phase Oil immersed self-cooled, Outdoor type |
| Rated Capacity | : | 12.0 MVA |
| Specification | : | 33/11 Kv Voltage Ratio, YNd11 Vector Group |
| No of Units | : | One |
| Efficiency | : | 0.99 |
| At Mewa Substation | ||
| Type | : | 3-phase Oil immersed self-cooled, Outdoor type |
| Rated Capacity | : | 12.0 MVA |
| Specification | : | 132/33 kV Voltage Ratio, YNyn0 Vector Group |
| No of Units | : | One |
| Efficiency | : | 0.99 |
| 16. Transmission Line | ||
| Specification | : | 33 kV single circuit, wolf conductor |
| Length | : | 7 km from powerhouse to Mewa Sub-station (132/33 kV) in Mikwakhola Gaupalika-5, Taplejung |
| 17. Required Commercial Operation Date (RCOD) | : | 2082-12-28 (13th April, 2026) |
| 18. Cost & Financial Parameters | : | |
| Total estimated Cost of the Project | : | NPR 181.34 Crore |
| Energy sales rate | : | NPR 4.8/unit for Wet & NPR 8.4 /Unit for Dry Period, including 3% selling price escalation till 8th year |
| 1st year estimated revenue | : | NPR 32 Crore |
| 8th year estimated revenue | : | NPR 40 Crore |
| IRR | : | 17.5% |
| Discounted Payback Period | : | 8.85 Years |
Benefit Sharing from the project:
1) Custom Duties & VAT to pay by project to Government of Nepal:
- This project shall pay custom duties and VAT amount of around NPR 13 crores to GoN during construction
2) Corporate Income tax to pay by project to Government of Nepal:
- Income tax free (0%) for the first 10 years
- NPR 3 crores 22 lakhs annually for 11th to 15th year
- NPR 6 crores 11 lakhs annually for 16th to 30th year
- NPR 1 arba 8 crores during the 30 years operation of this project
3) Royalties to pay by project to Government of Nepal:
- NPR 84 lakhs annually from 1st year of operation to 15th year of operation
- NPR 4 crores 90 lakhs annually from 16th year to 30th year of operation
- NPR 86 crores during 30 years of operation of this project
- According to the National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission (NNRFC), 25% of the royalties paid by the project amounting to NPR 21 crores and 50 lakhs is entitled to the local government, i.e. Mikwakhola Gaunpalika, during the 30 years operation of this project .
4) Community Support Program (CSP) to Local community by project:
- This project will spend NPR 1 crore 5 lakhs to develop local roads, construct schools, medical facilities, electrification, etc.
5) Opportunity to invest in IPO share by local community:
- 10% of project’s equity shall be issued via public offering for local community at book value of NPR 100 per share.
In summary, Taxes, VAT, custom duties, royalties, CSP, etc. amounts to around NPR 208.12 crores of money spent by this project during its operation of 30 years benefiting the government and local Community. Issuance of local shares and employment opportunities help the local community in lifting their living and economic standards.
