70. The Complete Picture

Arun Valley Hydropower Development Company completed construction of its 3 MW run-of-river Piluwakhola hydro project on the Piluwakhola river in the Sankhuwasava district of Nepal. Construction of the project, which will generate 19.55 GWh annually, was possible as a result of the Nepalese government's liberal policy to involve the private sector in hydro development in the country, following the restoration of democracy in 1990. Capital costs for power generation for this project are about US$1250 per kW, which makes it one of the cheapest projects in Nepal. The benefit cost ratio and internal rate of return are 1.74% and 25.8%, respectively. The total investment is estimated to be US$3.9 million, at 2002 prices. Of the total cost, US$1.3 million was raised from the shareholders and the remaining US$2.7 million has been loaned by Nepali banks and financial institutions, led by the Bank of Kathmandu. The project is the first scheme in the country to use a penstock pipe for water conveyance throughout the alignment. The total length of the pipe is 3600 m – one of the longest Penstocks ever used for water conveyance in Nepal. It utilises the water of Piluwakhola, which is a spring fed river. The gross head of the project is 112.5 m and design discharge is 3.5 m³/sec. There is 6 m long side intake with free flow diversion weir 16 m long, and three manually operated gates. The water from intake is conveyed by 185 m long penstock and 50 m long RCC power canal to a 47 m long desanding basin of dufore type.