The Concession Agreement for the 600 MegaWatt Kholongchhu (Joint Venture) Hydroelectric Project between Bhutan Government and Kholongchuu Hydro Energy Limited was signed today in Thimphu. This was carried out in the virtual presence of External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and his Bhutanese counterpart Tandi Dorji.
This 600 MW run-on-the-water project is located on the lower course of Kholongchhu River in Trashiyangtse District in Eastern Bhutan.
The project envisions an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines with water impounded by a concrete gravity dam of 95 meters height. It will be implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited, a Joint Venture company formed between Druk Green Power Corporation of Bhutan and Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited of India. The signing of the Concession Agreement will lead to the commencement of construction and other works. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.
Both the External Affairs of India and Bhutan expressed the importance of this project as an important pillar of mutually beneficial bilateral economic corporation.
The Hydropower sector is the flagship-area of the India-Bhutan ties. The 720 MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project was jointly inaugurated in last year August by the Prime Ministers of India and Bhutan. With this, four hydroelectric projects of bilateral corporation totaling over 2100 MW, are already operational in Bhutan.