June 14: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' inaugurated the 400-kV Hetauda Substation at a programme organized by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), in Hetauda, Makawanpur district.

Located at Thana Bharyang in Hetuda Sub-Metropolitan City-11, the Hetauda Substation is Nepal's third largest automatic substation utilizing Gas Insulated System (GIS) technology. It began operations last Friday, enhancing the country's power transmission capabilities.

In addition to the 400-kV substation, two other substations of 220 kV and 132/11 kV capacities have also been constructed at Thana Bharyang by the Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project. These substations also started operations last Friday, further bolstering the region's power infrastructure.

The GIS-based Dhalkebar substation is currently the largest in Nepal, followed by the Inaruwa substation, with Hetauda being the third. These developments aim to ensure a reliable and high-quality power supply across the east-west corridor of Nepal and facilitate electricity trade with India.

With the Hetauda substation operational, infrastructure capable of transmitting around 4,000 megawatts of electricity is now in place. This is expected to significantly strengthen domestic electricity supply and expand electricity trade with India.

The Hetauda-Dhalkebar-Inaruwa 400-kV transmission line, once fully completed, will enable the transmission of this power across the east-west axis from Dhalkebar.

Furthermore, a 400-kV double-circuit transmission line, to be constructed from Ratmate in Nuwakot with assistance from the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), will be connected to the Hetauda substation. The necessary infrastructure at Hetauda for this connection has already been established.

The expansion of the Hetauda, Dhalkebar, and Inaruwa 400-kV substations was initiated through a joint investment by the Government of Nepal and NEA, under the National Electricity Development Decade program.

The contract for constructing the 220/132/11-kV Hetauda substation was signed in December 2018, funded by the Nepal-India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project, government and NEA investments, and a World Bank soft loan. The total estimated cost of the Hetauda substation project is Rs 3 billion. (RSS)