Kathmandu, April 23 -- The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project expects to finish installing the penstock pipes by the first week of May. These immense tubes carry water from the reservoir to the turbines to generate electricity, and the complex task of fitting them is one of the most challenging parts of the project's hydro-mechanical component.

The 456 MW national pride project located in Dolakha district in north central Nepal plans to start commercial generation of electricity by the end of December. The project will switch on the first unit which will generate 76 MW, project officials said.

This is the fourth time the project has revised its completion deadline. Earlier, it had planned to generate electricity by mid-November, but the...