SJVN Arun-3 Power Development Company (SAPDC), a subsidiary of Indian hydropower producer Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh, invites sealed bids by 23 December for the preparation and approval of a supplementary environmental impact assessment (SEIA) for the 669 MW Lower Arun hydroelectric project in eastern Nepal.
SJVN signed a memorandum of understanding in July of this year with the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) for the development of the 679 MW Lower Arun project, according to which the developer should complete a detailed project study for approval by the IBN within two years from the agreement date. After detailed assessment of its power potential, the optimized installed capacity of Lower Arun was fixed by SJVN at 669 MW. As such, a new EIA now needs to be conducted for the installed capacity of 669 MW instead of a previous EIA, which was submitted for approval in July 2021 by Nepal’s Department of Electricity Development (DoED) to the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE) for the original 474.25 MW project. The project, which is designed as a tailrace development of the 900 MW Arun 3 project, which is also being built by SJVN, is expected to generate 2970 GWh per annum from its four Francis type turbine units.
The scope of work will entail preparation of a Supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) through to approval from the IBN, MoFE and Government of Nepal comprising a review of the EIA report of the 474.25 MW Lower Arun hydropower project as well as conducting public hearings and to incorporate the issues that emerge during the public hearings as well as comments and suggestions from the stakeholders and a review by the SAPDC in the final report.
Interested bidders may download the full tender documents from www.sjvn.nic.in or www.sapdc.com.np upon payment of a non-refundable fee of NPR 1000 in the form of a bank draft in favour of SJVN Arun-3 Power Development Company.
For further information, contact: Vivek Sharma, Chief Engineer (P&C), Satluj Bhawan, Arun Sadan, SAPDC Office Complex, Tumlingtar, Distt. Sankhuwasabha, Nepal; Tel: +977 29 575154; Email: pnc.sapdc@gmail.com.
