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VOL. 28, NO. 17, Jan 02, 2009 (Paush 18 2065 B.S.)
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Crisis Mode
As the country braces for 12 hours of load shedding everyday, the government goes on crisis mode
By A CORRESPONDENT
The government has unveiled the National Energy Crisis Working Plan, Thursday. The plan includes 25 short term, three mid term and seven long term programs. "The crisis is likely to continue for next five years," said Shankar Koirala, Secretary at the Water Resources Ministry.
The ministry attributed the crisis to its inability to meet the target of the 10th Five Year Plan. Though the target was 314 Mw, it generated only 40 Mw. "To make matters worse, the water level at Kulekhani Hydropower project is at 24 m. The Koshi floods had also destroyed the transmission line with India. We used to impost 60 Mw from India," he said.
Sher Singh Bhat, chief of system operation division at Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), said, "The demand is growing by ten percent annually. If the situation does not improve by February, then there will be 16 hours of power cuts daily."
The energy deficit stands at 3.8 million units per day. The shortfall is pegged at whopping 40 percent.
Last year, the country's energy crisis stood at 430 million units, resulting in an estimated loss of Rs 32 billion. This year, the figure is likely to go up to Rs 45 billion, according to a press statement by the Ministry.
Minister for Water Resources Bishnu Poudel said that the cabinet had approved the plan to deal with the energy crisis.
The government has already said that it will renegotiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rates with projects that produce up to 25 Mw. There is no need to seek permission of Ministry
of Forest and Soil Conservation to construct projects up to 50 Mw if they are not located inside national parks and conservation areas. A Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) campaign will be launched from January 14. A record 20 million CFLs will be distributed. Industrial areas and corridors have been promised uninterrupted power supply. There will be a seven year tax holiday for construction of hydropower projects within 2011.
The current total installed capacity of the country stands at 689 Mw including 635 Mw from hydropower and 54 Mw from thermal plants. The peak demand during dry/winter season exceeds 750 Mw while the supply declines by 49 percent (based on Mw generation) of installed capacity or 36 percent based on energy need.
"These days we are only able to supply around 250 Mw," said Bhat.
In order to deal with peak demand, the Ministry has said that the government has now decided to let the NEA find suitable partners to build storage type projects including 600 Mw strong Budhigandaki project as well as 127 Mw strong Upper Seti project.
Likewise, to tide over the current crisis, the Ministry has proposed to build up to 200 Mw thermal plants within six months. That apart, it has vowed to rebuild the Duhabi-Kataiya transmission line damaged by Kosi floods within three months. Once fixed, this line can import 40 Mw electricity from India.
The Ministry has said that it will also bring in 20 Mw of power from Tanakpur from January 1.
The government has said it will allocate Rs 7 billion to build various transmission lines. Private sector can also invest in them on build-transfer model. Beginning mid-January of 2009, the Bardaghat-Bharatpur 220 Kv line, Marsyangdi-Kathmandu 220 Kv line and Bharatpur-Hetauda 220 Kv line will be constructed. It has also decided to build transmission corridors in Kaligandaki, Kabeli, Singati-Lamosangu, Sunkosi-Dolakha and Dhankuta-Tirtire
