A report on KALIGANDAKI 'A' HYDRO POWER PROJECT.

(BY Pramod thapa(064/bme/625)

At present, kaligandaki-A is the largest hydropower of Nepal having capacity of 144
MW. This project was incepted in 1991 and commercially operated in Aug 16 '02. The
hydropower is the peak run of the river type(PROR) and the sources of water are Kaligandaki
and Adhikhola rivers. The transmission line is of 132Kv and has total length upto grid
connection is 104.6 km. The electricity is transmitted to lekhnath kaski and connected to the
national grid line from Pokhara.Talking about the water turbine, there are three Francis turbine.
Here the shaft configuration is vertical. The rated speed of turbine shaft is 300 rpm.The
maximum output of each turbine is 48MW and for this flow rate of 44.1m3/s is required. In this
way , the maximum capacity of this project is 144 MW .

The spillway lies at Beltari and the water flows through penstock to powerhouse which is
6 km far from dam. The spillway of Kaligandaki-A hydropower is gated type and designed for
6000 m³/s. the crest level of spillway is EL505 m. it consists of gate having dimensions of 15 m
wide and 19 m height. The gate has hydraulic power unit i.e. hydraulic gate to lower and raise
the gate. The forebay consist of maximum operating level of EL524 m and minimum of
EL518m. the water volume of forebay at EL524 m is 3,100,000 m3.it also consist of diversion
gate to through the excess water. The diversion gate was designed for 6400 m³/s during flood. It
is concrete gravity type having lowest and foundation level of EL526m. The height of structure
is 43m. The water after forebay passes to the desander basin to remove the sand. Desander basin
is outdoor open surface type de sander basin having width of 40m and length of 120m, maximum
operating level of EL524m and minimum of EL518m. it is provided with two desander basin.
The water then passes into main tunnel. The main tunnel is concrete lived pressure type of length
5905m and finish diameter of 7.04m. The water then passes into the surge tank to kill the water
wave and pressure wave. The water then passes into penstock of diameter 5.45m to the three
Francis turbines. Head of penstock through which the water falls into the turbine is 115m. The
water then passes into the draft tube which is conical in shape and the water is thrown into
kaligandaki river. The 3- phase generator consist of 20 poles having production at 13.8 kv having
power factor of 0.85. While reaching to kaligandaki and visiting the power house, I was amazed
by seeing megastructure of power plant like the size of shaft, civil construction, penstock size
and tunnel size. Moreover, i got practical idea how the guide vane are moved with the change in
flow rate and how such giant turbine, guide vane, bolt and nut are made in workshop of their
power house.
Thank u.