Power Crisis
The legacy of old nepal is a completely disfunctional power grid with power cuts for more than half of each day in the capital city so even the urban minority has to use low power lighting and other equipment. It will take several years to construct transmission lines and small and medium hydro plants sufficient for urban demand. The dispersed settlement pattern in the Hills implies many more years before household access. So battery charging stations will continue to be needed both at the periphery of the grid and for settlements isolated from the grid. Also even in cities laptops and other portable battery operated equipment will be more cost effective than providing separate Uninterruptible Power Supplies for ICT equipment dependent on mains power.
Power outage increased to 16 hrs daily
Kathmandu, Jan. 9 - Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Friday revised the daily power cuts hours to 16 hours from the existing 12 hours a day.
There will be 16 hours load shedding for six days and 12 hours for a day in a week.
NEA said that the peak demand of power and supply imbalance had increased pressure in the Kulekhani water reservoir which could supply water to generate power only for a month.
It said that the seven million unit of power supplied through the Tanakpur had been consumed and the 20 MW power purchased from India would be supplied to Lamahai. The load shedding hours would be increased in the western part of Lamahai.
The NEA said that there would be two days’ full load shedding in the industrial areas and industrial feeders.
There will be complete load shedding hours from 6 AM for two days of the week in these areas, it said.
The NEA has said that while the peak demand had risen to around 800 MW, it was able to supply less than 300 MW.
Govt declares 'National Power Crisis' - crisis mitigation plan introduced
The government of Nepal has come up with the National Power Crisis Mitigation Plan to provide immediate relief to the people from perennial power shortage in the country .
Declaring National Power Crisis for this critical condition, the meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Thursday passed the 35-point action plan including 25 immediate, three mid-term and seven long-term plans to address the existing power crisis.
Speaking at the press conference at the Ministry of Water Resources on Thursday, Bishnu Paudel, Minister for Water Resources, said that the government had acknowledged the present situation and tried to address this with some immediate, mid-term and long-term plans.
"As the government’s role is not just to look at the problems, it has come up with a 35-point programme, as an alternative to the present problem after a long and serious discussion," he said.
Similarly, the government has decided to carry out the construction work of Duhabi-Kataiya transmission line and import 40 megawatts of power from Koshi-Kataiya transmission line and 20 megawatts from Tanakpur.
Likewise, the capacity enhancement of the national grids such as, Bardaghat-Bharatpur 220 KV, Marshyandi-Kathmandu 200 KV and Bharatpur-Hetauda 220 KV will start from January 2009.
The government has decided to construct five new national grids Kaligandaki, Kabeli, Singati-Lamosangu, Sunkoshi-Dolakha, and Dhankuta-Tirtire spending Rs. 7 billion.
To attract and encourage the private sector investment in the hydropower projects, the government has decided to waive income tax for seven years for the hydel projects completing before 2011/12.
Some public awareness and education programme are also put forward for the demand side management reducing power consumption in big industries, hotels and cities.
A CFL door-to-door campaign, with a skim of ‘buy one get one free’ will be carried out in the country encouraging people to use CFL, LED, slim tube light, electronic ballast, etc.
The government has decided to discourage using incandescent lights consuming more electricity.
For the immediate relief from the ongoing power cuts, the government has decided to install new feeder in industrial areas and industrial corridors.
As per the new plan, for the hydropower projects of up to 25 megawatts, the government will fix the purchasing price rate in bulk and will also provide relief from getting approval from the Ministry of Forest and Land Conservation unless it is at any National Conservation Area or Sanctuary.
The government has decided to carry out only Initial Environment Examination (IEE) for the projects of up to 50 megawatts while there was a provision of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) in the past.
Meanwhile, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEP) is going to revise the power outage schedule effective form coming Monday. According to Sher Singh Bhat, chief at the Load Transmission Centre, there will be at least 14 hours power cuts every day.
The country will bear an economic loss of around 600 million-unit equivalent to Rs. 450 million from the existing power shortage.
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