Load Shedding in Nepal will not drop below 6 hours a day

KATHMANDU, NEPAL

Load-shedding will not decrease below six hours a day this year despite all projects operating at full capacity as the national grid still is short of demand by 350 MW. Load-shedding had also remained six hours a day during the last monsoon.

 While the current demand of electricity is 1000 MW, supply is just 650 MW including around 100 MW imported from India. All the projects including Kaligandaki A (144 MW), Mid Marsyangdi (70 MW), Marsyangdi (69 MW), Khimti (60 MW), Bhotekoshi (45 MW) are operating at full capacity, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). “All the run of the river projects are operating at full capacity,” Manager of the System Operation Department of NEA Bhuwan Kumar Chhetri confirmed.

“Power cuts can be reduced by up to one hour a day if the water level at the Kulekhani Reservoir rises. It will remain as it is, otherwise,” he said and added that will be confirmed in the next one week. He, however, said that there is little chance of load-shedding decreasing further due to Kulekhani. He revealed that the water level at Kulekhani currently is 1,512 meters and 200,000 units of electricity a day is being generated from the project now. The demand of electricity rises by 100 MW a year and 35.5 MW has already been added to the national grid this year. NEA said that another 17 MW will soon be added but there is no chance of more import from India for now.

NEA, meanwhile, has urged the Ministry of Energy to compensate for the loss of Rs 444.40 million suffered through import of electricity from India in the 11 months of this fiscal year. The Load-Shedding Minimization Work Plan brought last September has stated that the government will compensate the losses suffered thus. NEA said 643.66 million units of electricity has been imported from India this fiscal year while it is expecting to import 1.05 billion units in the coming year.

The work plan had stated that load-shedding will be limited to 12 hours a day but it had risen to up to 14 hours a day due to the huge gap between demand and supply. Though NEA had targeted to reduce leakage, that was 27 percent at the start of the year, by three percent it is still 25 percent. NEA’S income has increased by Rs 500 million due to the two-percent fall in leakage. NEA has been losing around Rs 6.25 billion from leakages alone. Meanwhile, NEA has reduced load-shedding in the industrial areas by one hour to seven hours a day.

Source: Karobar Daily, 20th June 2013
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14 firms bribe NEA officials to get 24-hr electricity

KATHMANDU, NEPAL:

A government probe has concluded that 14 firms along the Itahari-Biratnagar industrial corridor saved energy bills worth at least Rs 50 million over the past three months ending mid-April by influencing officials of five distribution centers of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to provide them round the clock electricity even during load-shedding.

The firms paid just Rs 6 for a unit of electricity. Power generated from generators would have cost them around Rs 25 per unit.

“As the irregularity is of large scale, the investigation team has recommended that the government probe further in order to identify the NEA officials who unlawfully supplied electricity to private firms,” a member of the investigation team told Republica on Sunday.

Ministry of Energy (MoE), which looks after NEA, had formed a five-member probe to look into the issue following widespread criticism.

According to sources, owners of the firms ensured round the clock electricity to their production facilities by paying kickbacks to officials of different distribution centers of NEA. Those firms had managed to get uninterrupted power supply from NEA´s distribution centers in Itahari, Duhabi, Biratnagar, Dhankuta and Siraha.

The team submitted its report to the ministry last week after conducting field study.

“The probe team looked into electricity supply scheduled of the five distribution centers. We found that those distribution centers supplied electricity to the 14 firms going against the nationwide load-shedding schedule,” the member added.

According to MoE officials, locals had complained about the issue last year as well. But their complaints were not entertained. “No one showed interest to look into the issue then,” an official at MoE said preferring not to be named.

The firms that enjoyed round the clock power supply by influencing NEA officials are Raghupati Jute Mill, Baba Jute Mill, Maruti Cements and Asian Thai Food, among others.

“Owners of 14 firms are found to have bribed officials at the distribution centers to ensure 24-hour power supply,” the probe committee member told Republica.

The member said the firms saved Rs 19 per unit of electricity consumed in the three-month period.

“Now, it is up to board of directors of the NEA to take actions against the perpetrators," the member said.

The investigation team led by Sundar Shyam Shrestha, deputy director general of the Department of Electricity Development (DoED), comprised three officials from the ministry and a representative from the NEA.

Source: myrepublica, 13th May 2013

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