Choked Infrastructure
Even as the country is in the grip of acute power shortage due to lack of hydropower projects, there is yet another problem, which is often overlooked but which is equally important if the country is to see the back of the crippling load shedding. The existing transmission lines are said to have been fully used up leaving very little space for any more power to pass through them. The lines have become urgent not only to realize the potential of exporting power but even to transmit power from one place of the country to another. There is a regional imbalance in current transmission infrastructure. While big hydropower projects lie in the western region, the major demand is in the eastern region. The country needs to pump in over Rs 15 billion to upgrade the transmission infrastructure
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
Despite acute power shortage and assurances by the officials that new hydropower projects would take care of the problem, the non-existent transmission infrastructure is likely to thwart any attempts to resolve this issue.
The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been clamping six hours of load shedding every day. For a country regarded as rich in water resources, such a situation can be considered nothing but an ironical – a result of misplaced priorities and lack of long term vision.
" Nepal is currently the country with most hours of load shedding," said Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, a private sector hydropower entrepreneur.
"And this is all due to the total failure of the country's policies and plans," he added.
The NEA officials have said that due to the lack of new projects in the last one decade, the country is now facing acute shortage of power. They have warned that in coming one month, the situation could become worse before the onset of spring, which will trigger melting of snow that feeds most of the rivers in the country where the hydropower projects are located.
The country currently has the installed capacity of just over 600 MW and the demand is rising 10 percent every year. Practically, a project the size of Middle Marsyangdi (70MW) should be added every year to meet the demands. In dry winter season, the situation worsens as people start consuming more power while the supply shrinks by up to 30 percent as rivers dry up. The only storage-type project of Kulekhani has to work overtime during this dry season. And the efficiency of Kulekhani also depends on the volume of water collected at its reservoir during monsoon.
Transmission Bottleneck
At a time when the country is said to be suffering from load shedding due to lack of hydropower projects, experts have revealed that there is a similarly huge problem in transmission infrastructure.
Without upgrading existing transmission lines and/or expanding them, even if projects are built, the power they generate cannot be transmitted. Most big hydropower projects are situated in the western region while demand is high in eastern region – necessitating the powerful cross-country transmission lines to evacuate the energy.
Recently, big hydropower projects like Arun III (402 MW), Upper Karnali (300 MW), Budhi Gandaki (600 MW) and Upper Tamakosi (309 MW) are being mulled for construction. Except for Upper Tamakosi, the government is seeking foreign investment to build the three projects.
But conspicuously absent is the debate on the existence of transmission. It is quite clear that without constructing powerful transmission lines, the country can neither export power to India nor transport it from one place of the country to another.
Transmission lines are known as 'highway' through which power flows. Currently, in Nepal, these highways are already choked with traffic jam. Without expanding these highways, mere construction of hydropower projects will not suffice, according to Sher Singh Bhat, chief of the Systems Operation Department of NEA.
"East to Dhalkebar, we don't have any project. And the demand is quite higher in eastern region. The existing transmission lines are already fully used up. Without building new lines or expanding the existing one, power cannot be evacuated from the projects," said Bhat.
Chicken-Egg Story
Private entrepreneur Gyanendra Lal Pradhan believes that 90 percent of the license holders are not building hydropower projects because of the absence of proper transmission lines.
"I do not see the possibility of building 30/40 MW strong projects without the expansion in the transmission infrastructure," he said citing the examples of Kabeli and Upper Marsyangdi, which he said could not be constructed for this very reason.
"We have not only failed in the planning of hydropower projects but also totally failed in transmission line planning," he said.
Pradhan points out the need of constructing high-powered transmission lines with capacity of 400 Kv or more if the country wants to export power to India in future. At present, there are only 132 Kv power transmission lines in operation in the country while a few 220 Kv lines are being planned.
"A transmission line with the capacity of 220 Kv if not 400 Kv should be built parallel to the east west highway," Pradhan said.
NEA's Bhat, however, thinks that the story of 'chicken first or egg first' has repeated in transmission sector in the country.
"While the project developers point out that they cannot build a project without transmission infrastructure in place. On the other hand, no one is coming forward to build transmission lines without being fully convinced about the full usage of the facility in the absence of projects," he said.
Plans Of Infrastructure
Pradhan says that since transmission lines are like 'highways,' they should be built by the government with priority.
"If you want to take your car from Kathmandu to Pokhare, do you build the highway or do you use the common highway built by the state. That is the same problem, private sector is facing now," he said.
Bhat also believes that while constructing transmission lines, the government should not consider only the financial cost. "It should be constructed like roads and hospitals. They do not give you immediate return, but they are vitally important in the long term," he said.
It is said that in order to build and upgrade the existing transmission infrastructure in the country, investment worth Rs 15 billion would be required. The World Bank has also shown interest in helping in this sector. On the other hand, NEA is working with Indian company Indian Leasing and Financial Services Company to build cross-border transmission lines.
At present, the government is upgrading transmission lines in Bardaghat-Bharatpur-Hetauda. "To exchange power between Nepal and India, we are constructing transmission lines in three areas now. The process of construction of 400 KV transmission line between Dhalkebar- Mujaffarpur ( Bihar), Butwal- Anadanagar, and Duhabi-Purnia ( India) have already started," said Minister for Water Resources Gyanendra Bahadur Karki.
Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, vice chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC), also said that the government will be acting with priority basis to develop transmission infrastructure. "We are aware there is a need to develop transmission line. There is the lack of transmission line to evacuate power from west to east," he said.
The people of country, meanwhile, who are suffering from crippling load-shedding cannot escape the blues without addressing the problem of shortage of power as well as transmission lines with long-term perspective.
