A memorandum of understanding to develop the 490 MW Arun-4 hydro power project in Nepal has been signed, according to a LinkedIn post by a senior manager with SJVN Limited.
The MOU was signed in front of PM Narender Modi and PM of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba.
The Arun-4 project will be developed as a joint venture by SJVN and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), with SJVN having majority share. The Arun-4 project is the third project on the Arun River. The other two projects – the 900 MW Arun-3 and the 669 MW Lower Arun – are also being developed by SJVN.
Arun-3, in the Sunkhuwashabha District, is a peaking run-of-river project. The dam will be 70 m tall and the headrace tunnel will be 11.7 km long. The underground powerhouse will contain four 225 MW vertical Francis turbine-generator units. Electricity from the project is expected to be exported to India via a 217-km-long, 400-kV double circuit transmission line.
The Lower Arun Hydro Electric Project in the Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur districts of Nepal will not have any reservoir or dam and will be a tailrace development of Arun-3. The project will have four Francis-type turbines.
With the signing of the MOU, SJVN will have portfolio of three projects in Nepal of 2,059 MW capacity. SJVN has a mission to achieve generation milestones of 25,000 MW by 2030 and 50,000 MW by 2040, according to the LinkedIn post.
