Overview

Unique Hydel Company was established as a private limited company in the year 2057 BS. It was first incorporated as a private limited company, owned by individual shareholders. The Company was acquired by Hydro Solutions Group in 2066 B. S. At the present major shareholders of the Project are members of the Hydro Solutions group and some prominent personalities of Nepali society. The Company has been converted into a public limited company with the intention of allowing more individuals to own shares in the company. The company will provide shares to the local shareholders as well as the general public in the coming days. The present paid up capital of the company is N. Rs 330,000,000.00

Baramchi Project: Unique Hydel Company was set up as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Company to build, own and operate the Baramchi Hydropower Project in Sindhupalchowk District. The company initially developed the Baramchi Hydropower Project with an installed capacity of 980 kW and started its commercial operation on 2063/09/13 The Company later got the necessary approvals and licenses from the Govt. of Nepal and upgraded the project's installed capacity to 4.2 MW. The up gradation work has been a work in progress with various sections of the project being modified to generate the 4.2 MW capacity.

The project site is located in Sindhupalchowk District of Central Development Region of Nepal. Baramchi Khola is a tributary of Balephi Khola, which flows into the Sunkosi River. The project is a run-of-river project with gross head of 655 m. Design flow data for BHP was computed from different standard methods and verified with direct measurement. Design discharge of 0.870 m3/s has been adopted, which corresponds to an installed capacity of 4.2 MW. The annual energy that can be generated from the project is 22.55 GWh.The energy thus generated is evacuated to the NEA substation at Khadichaur, by a 33 kV transmission line, approximately 18 km away from the generating station. The Commercial operation of the upgraded project was commenced on 2067 Kartik.

All the hydraulic structures are proposed to be constructed alongside the hill on the right bank of the Baramchi Khola. This project comprises of a free flow concrete weir across the Baramchi Khola. The weir has a total length of about 12.5 m. A very short intake canal has been constructed to connect intake with settling basin. Two numbers of double chambered continuous flushing type settling basin have been constructed to settle particle size up to 0.20 mm. The dimension of each settling basin is 5 m width, 4 m height and 20 m length. The headrace pipe diameter is 600 mm and 500 mm. To reduce head loss a parallel 400 mm diameter headrace pipe has been installed for the last 500 m of the headrace pipe section. The total length of the headrace pipe is 2715 m.

A fore bay of 6 m x 4.6 m x 4 m is constructed at the end of the headrace pipe. An approximately 1615 m long steel penstock pipe of diameter 500 mm connects the fore bay tank to the powerhouse, which houses a 1 MW generating unit and a 3.2 MW generating unit. An additional 400 mm diameter penstock pipe has also been installed in parallel to the previously existing penstock pipe to reduce head loss along parts of the penstock.The surface powerhouse is 18 m long, 7 m wide 8 m high. A short tailrace of length 5.5 m, 1.8 m width and 2 m height has been built to discharge water back to Baramchi River. A 33 kV transmission line has been constructed to evacuate energy generated from the project to Khadichaur, approximately 18 km from the project site. The headrace pipe alignment follows steep rocky terrain. The penstock alignment passes through stable mildly sloped hills and forests at Ramche village. The proposed powerhouse and tailrace area are situated on the right bank of the Baramchi Khola.

The Company carried out the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) of the Project as per the Environmental Protection Act. The Study was approved by the Government of Nepal prior to the development of the Project. The study concluded that the project would not adversely impact the environment but rather the positive impacts of the project outweighed the negative ones. The salient features of the 4.2 MW scheme is attached as appendix. Contribution to social development: Unique Hydel Company has been delivering development to the Baramchi Hydropower Project area. The Barmachi hydropower Project was the first major industry to be set up in Northern Sindhupalchowk District. The Project built a major bridge on the Jalbire River, along the dirt road that allowed the Project area to be connected to the national highway. This road serves as the backbone of development, trade and communication in that area. Likewise the 11 kV transmission line the project initially built to evacuate energy generated at the power station even today serves as the trunk distribution line not only around the Project area but for many kilometers beyond the project area.

The Project has invested generously within the community as well. The company supports educational institutions, has helped build roads, schools, youth club in the local area. Likewise the company has provided hardware as well as cash for implementing rural electrification activities in the affected VDC. As a result the all wards of the Baramchi VDC and most areas of the Hagam VDC have access to grid electricity.