West Seti Hydro

Project Details

The West Seti Hydroelectric Project is a major storage project being developed by West Seti Hydro Limited (WSH) on the Seti River in the Far Western Development Region of Nepal.

Project Location: Click on the image to view larger image
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The project is being developed under a Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) structure with a 30 year concession.

The 30-year generating license incorporates the construction period (5.5 years) before full ownership of the project is handed over to the Government of Nepal.

The principal project features are:

  • A power station consisting of 4 x 187.5 MW individual turbines at rated net head
  • 195 m high Concrete Faced Rock-fill Dam on the Seti River
  • Two diversion tunnels - each 675 m long
  • 6.7 km of 10 m diameter headrace tunnel
  • Underground machine hall 283 m below reservoir full supply level
  • 605 m tailrace tunnel
  • 25 km long reservoir with a catchment area of 4,250 km2 and storage capacity of 1,566 million m3 (926 million m3 live storage and 640 million m3 dead storage)
  • Average water inflow of 199 m3/s
  • Power delivery to the Indian high voltage grid via a 132.5 km 400 kV double circuit transmission line to the Nepal-India border
  • Estimated average annual generation of 3,636 GWh of delivered energy

One of the few major development options available to Nepal is hydropower.

The country’s potential hydropower resource is estimated to be 83,000 MW, of which 43,000 MW is considered economically viable. Nepal’s current total installed generating capacity is only 617.48 MW, of which 55.03 MW is thermal.

The topography of the West Seti site is ideally suited to hydropower generation as a high dam can be constructed across a narrow section of the Seti valley to create a large upstream storage reservoir, allowing flow diversion across a bend in the river that creates additional generation capacity.

Computer simulations using river flow measurements over 30 years and catchment rainfall analysis over 80 years, have determined the Seti River’s suitability for a major hydropower project.

The Seti River has a pronounced seasonal flow pattern, with high flows during the monsoon season from mid-June to September and low flows generally occurring over the remaining months. River flows between May and October account for 86% of the total annual flow.

The project will generate an estimated average annual energy output of 3,636 GWh.

Daily generation will occur for up to 8 hours during the dry season and up to 24 hours during the monsoon.

Electricity to India (Click Here to Read More)
Environmental Monitoring (Click Here to Read More)
Environmental Impact (Click Here to Read More)
Project- Location (Click Here to Read More)

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