Flash Flood Strikes Hydroelectric Plant Near Completion... Missing Reported

[Anchor]

The area hit by the massive flood in Nepal was the country's largest overseas investment hydroelectric power project led by South Korean companies. Having undergone five years of construction, it was scheduled for completion as early as the end of this year.

Reporter Kwon Ran has the details.

[Reporter]

Muddy water cascades down a narrow, steep valley, engulfing the dam under construction.

Workers nearby dash away in panic.

Moments later, the dam fails to withstand the violent current and collapses.

This was the exact moment when the cofferdam of the Upper Trishuli-1 (UT-1) hydroelectric power plant, being built by South Korean companies, gave way.

[Yoon Jang-hyun / Head of New Growth Division, Korea South-East Power Co. (KOEN): At present, it appears that more than 90 percent of the upper weir dam (cofferdam) section has been washed away.]

The UT-1 hydroelectric project is a Korea-led venture in which Korea South-East Power Co. is in charge of project development and future operations, while Doosan Enerbility handles construction and the supply of major equipment.

Located in the Trishuli River basin in the Rasuwa district, about 70 kilometers north of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, it is a run-of-the-river power plant that utilizes the high head characteristic of the Himalayan mountainous terrain.

It is designed to maximize power generation efficiency by creating a drop of 340 meters through a 10-kilometer-long tunnel.

As Nepal's largest foreign-investment hydroelectric project with a capacity of 216 megawatts and an investment of approximately 900 billion won, it had raised expectations that upon completion, it would account for 20 percent of Nepal's total electricity supply, a country suffering from chronic power shortages.

After 10 years of project development starting in 2011, full-scale construction began in 2022 with the goal of completion by the end of this year and commercial operations next year, but the recent floods have made setbacks inevitable.

[Yoon Jang-hyun / Head of New Growth Division, Korea South-East Power Co. (KOEN): The current construction progress is at 84 percent. The base camp where construction workers stayed has been more than 90 percent destroyed, and we currently understand that the underground power plant has not been buried.]

The Rasuwa region, where the UT-1 plant is located, is an optimal site for hydroelectric power due to its steep mountains and deep gorges, but it also carries dual challenges of high construction difficulty and severe risks of earthquakes, landslides, and floods.

The UT-1 hydroelectric plant has repeatedly suffered flood damage, including the loss of materials, fuel storage facilities, and temporary dams due to floods two years ago, followed by a suspension of construction last year.

(Video by Kim Seung-tae | Video Editing by Lee Hong-myung | Graphics by Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.