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Hetauda–Bharatpur–Bardaghat 220 kV Corridor

Page status
Registry record
Updated
2026-05-11

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Summary

The 220 kV east–west spine across central Nepal, running through the Hetauda → Bharatpur → Bardaghat load corridor. This is the line that carried Nepal's grid before the 400 kV era — and still carries the majority of Terai distribution load.

Key Facts

Parameter Value
Voltage 220 kV (double circuit)
Status Operational
Length basis 146.5 route-km / 293.0 circuit-km
Owner Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)
Terminals Hetauda (Makwanpur) · Bharatpur (Chitwan) · Bardaghat (Nawalparasi)
Corridor ID hetauda_bharatpur_bardaghat_220

Map Interpretation

The connected transmission layer now represents this corridor as two source-controlled features: Hetauda-New Bharatpur and New Bharatpur-Bardaghat. This replaced the older over-selected RPGCL extraction, which mixed adjacent 220 kV fragments into the HBB corridor.

Current validation result: 2 features, 0 inferred connectors, 0 remaining endpoint gaps, and 143.365 km traced length against a 146.5 route-km basis.

Public decision: default-visible, caveated.

Significance

  • Load-centre spine. Serves the Bharatpur–Hetauda–Butwal urban belt, Nepal's second-largest consumption cluster after the Kathmandu Valley.
  • Redundancy for 400 kV. During HDDI outages this corridor provides a lower-voltage fallback for east–west flow, at reduced capacity.
  • Tie-in for western generation. Connects Marsyangdi-basin and Kali Gandaki-basin output to the central grid before the MCA Central 400 kV Corridor (Lapsiphedi–Ratmate–Hetauda–Damauli–Butwal) fully commissions.

Limitations & Controversies

  • Legacy capacity. 220 kV thermal limits constrain the amount of surplus generation the corridor can absorb; during monsoon peak, IPPs in the west are partly curtailed despite availability.
  • Substation bottlenecks. Bharatpur's bus configuration has been flagged as a weak link in NEA's 2024 reliability review.
  • Geometry precision remains caveated. The public route is now coherent and source-bounded, but the Bharatpur-Bardaghat portion is still a corridor-level SIA trace rather than a tower-by-tower alignment.

See also