A graphic imaged of the proposed West Seti Hydropwoer Project. Photo Courtesy: SCMP

September 19: A team of government officials and experts has arrived in Doti district to study the 750-megawatt West Seti Hydropower Project to be built at Dhungad and Talara areas of Doti and Baitadi districts, according to the state-owned national news agency RSS.    
Mayor of Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality Manju Malasi told RSS that the government team monitored the Talkot area of Shikhar Municipality where the powerhouse of the project is supposed to be developed. She said that the three-member team is now scheduled to visit the dam site.    
The government team arrived at the proposed site of the project for a fresh study to advance the project development works. The team includes Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Bishwo Poudel, CEO of Investment Board of Nepal Shushil Bhatta and Energy Secretary Devendra Karki.

Coordinator of the District Coordination Committee Ram Bahadur Air reportedly said that a new ray of hope has emerged on the project development after the visit of the high-level team.

The issue of West Seti Hydropower Project has been talked about in the country since 1981.
According to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),  the 750-megawatt (MW) West Seti Hydroelectric Project in Nepal’s Far-Western Province, proposed by West Seti Hydro Limited, is a storage scheme designed to generate and export large quantities of electrical energy to India.

According to the ADB, the Project is expected to generate electrical energy throughout the year, storing excess wet season river flows in the reservoir, and using this water to generate energy during peak demand periods in the dry season.

The report further says that the proposed 750 MW Project will generate and export large quantities of electrical energy to India under a power purchase agreement with PTC (India) Limited, which will in turn sell the power within the northern region of India.

Under the terms of the 1997 project agreement between West Seti Hydroelectric Project and the Government of Nepal (GoN), the government will receive revenue from the sale of power through energy and capacity royalties.

In addition, the project agreement incorporates an agreement whereby the Government could receive 10 percent of the output of the power station as free power or 10 percent of the revenue received under the terms of the power purchase agreement in lieu of free power. The GoN chose the latter option, states the report.

The project is a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) scheme, through which WSH has a 30-year generating license that will provide about 24.5 years of generation before full ownership of the project is handed over to the Government of Nepal.