After a months-long pause, activity at the 600-megawatt Khorlochhu Hydropower Project has picked up pace, with more than a thousand workers now on site tackling earthworks, tunneling and powerhouse construction. Resuming in earnest late last year, the mammoth undertaking has already seen three percent of its scope completed in just four months.
Operated as a joint venture between Druk Green Power Corporation and Tata Power Company Limited, the Nu 69 billion project is divided into five civil-works contracts totalling Nu 20 billion. India’s Jaiprakash Associates Limited is executing three of the biggest packages: building the dam itself, tunneling roughly 16.23 kilometres of headrace conduit, and erecting the powerhouse that will house the turbines. On the riverbank, crews are carving a temporary diversion tunnel to reroute the Khorlochhu River around the dam site, while simultaneously forging access passages for the headrace tunnel and machinery haulage.
Meanwhile, Construction Development Corporation Limited has taken charge of the surge shaft—a deep vertical chamber to regulate water pressure—and a further section of the headrace tunnel. To ensure reliable flow through the driest months, they are also diverting the nearby Chaplangchhu stream into the Khorlochhu channel, bolstering water volume when river levels dip.
Work on the project had stalled in July 2022 amid slow progress under the previous joint venture. Under the new management plan, partners have trimmed the original 56–59-month schedule, aiming for completion in 48–54 months through closer coordination and resource sharing. Hiring local drivers, equipment operators and labourers has cut the need for new housing camps and injected income directly into Trashi Yangtse’s villages.
Upon commissioning—now pencilled in for 2029—the plant is expected to generate roughly 2,524 million units of clean electricity every year, significantly bolstering Bhutan’s renewable energy output and export capacity. As civil works gather momentum, the Khorlochhu project shines as a testament to cross-border cooperation and the potential of hydropower to drive sustainable development.
