Officials from China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), the developer of West Seti Hydropower Project, arrived in Nepal on Wednesday to update about the latest status of the project and restart negotiation to form a joint-venture (JV) company with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

According to Investment Board Nepal (IBN), the CTGC officials will hold talks with IBN officials on Thursday to update about progress made in the study of the 750MW project and finalise the JV negotiation.

“They are supposed to give us a presentation to update us on the study carried out by them on the project,” said an IBN official seeking anonymity. “A couple of months back, the Chinese developer had signalled downward revision on installed capacity of the storage-type hydropower project, citing drop in water level in the river.” 

If the installed capacity is revised downward, the project may generate less electricity than anticipated. The IBN is expecting some concrete information on that regard with adequate statistics and logic from the developer, the source added.

The board will also try to conclude the JV deal with the NEA during the meeting. “We will seek their opinion with respect to the JV agreement with NEA,” said the source. “The meeting will be a major breakthrough as it has been stalled for quite a long.” 

The last meeting between the IBN and CTGC was held in March 2016, before then Prime Minister KP Oli’s visit to China.