The 132 kV Blanch-Attariya transmission line which will connect the electricity produced by Chameliya Hydropower Project to the national grid, has been brought into operation. The timing has coincided with Chameliya Hydropower Project which is also about to start evacuating electricity soon.

Ajaya Kumar Dahal, project chief of Chameliya Hydropower Project, said the transmission line and substation were brought into operation by routing electricity from Kailali based Attariya Grid. “The transmission line has been charged to ensure that the line will be able to handle the flow of hydro electricity generated by Chameliya.”

According to Dahal, Chameliya is likely to start production from the first week of December. Chameliya Hydropower Project, one of the largest hydropower projects in Province 7 had been delayed by almost five years, causing the cost of project construction to double.

 Although the infrastructure including the tower has been built to support double circuits for Blanch-Attariya transmission line, currently only one circuit line has been brought into operation. According to Dahal, the authority has planned to connect the double circuit line by the end of this fiscal year. 

The power line being developed with financial aid from the Korean government is vital for evacuating more than 200 MW of electricity being generated by different hydropower plants at various river basins in the far western region. 86 MW Chameliya Chhattisgad, 40 MW Upper Chameliya, 8.5 MW Naugad and 54 MW Kalangagadh are among the hydro projects that are under construction in the region.

The transmission line project was slated to be completed by 2014, but various factors, including problems in acquiring private and forest land, pushed back the completion date. The 131-km transmission line connects Darchula with the far western business hub of Attariya. It will be used to evacuate energy generated by the 30 MW Chameliya Hydropower Project which is likely to start its production in next two weeks.

Construction of the Chameliya Hydropower Project began in 2007. It was slated to come online by 2011, but this did not happen because of various factors like carelessness of the contractor and difficult terrain. As a result the construction cost of the project has been escalated to Rs15.6 billion from earlier estimated Rs8.50 billion.