Panauti Hydropower Station (also called Khopasi Hydropower Station) is the third hydropower station which was constructed in Nepal, in 1965. It is the first megawatt (MW) capacity hydropower station in Nepal.
It is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant on the Roshi Khola river. This power station is located at Khopasi, Kavre district, 35 km east of Kathmandu and 7 km south-east from Panauti Bazar.
It was built in 1965 with the assistance from then Soviet Union at a cost of NRs 27 million. It has a capacity of 2.4 MW, from 3 units of 0.8 MW each and annual design generation of 6.97 GWh. The Project was designed for operation of only two units at a time with third unit as a standby. Open canal of 3,721 m long with discharge of 3.2 cu. m/s from headwork to reservoir has seven (7) outlet gates for irrigation in the vicinity of Khopasi.
After the major improvement activities accomplished in 2018/019 ( Rehabilitation and Modernization of Switchyards of Panauti Hydropower Station located at Khopasi and Bhakatpur ), Panauti Hydropower Station is generating maximum annual energy (in 2018/19) which the power plant had not been able to do since the last 11 years.
Hydropower name Panauti Hydropower Station Commissioned year 1965 Type Run of River Location Panauti Municipality–12, Khopasi Installed capacity 2.4 MW Annual average energy 6.97 GWh Maximum Net head Catchment area 66m /60m Average annual flow 3.2m^3/s Live storage volume Dam 50,000 m3 Total length of the waterways 3.721 km Penstock turbine 1 No., 370m long, 1.4m Numbers of Turbine /type 3/ Horizontal Francis Rated discharge/ Turbine 1.61m3/s Rated output / Turbine 0.85MW Rated speed 1000 rpm Generator Rated output 1000 kVA Rated voltage 6.3 kV Rated frequency 50 Hz Power factor 0.8 Power transformer 1550 kVA, 6.3 kV/33 kV, 3 phase, 2 Nos. Transmission line 33kV, 20 km, single circuit
References