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INDRAWATI III PROJECT |
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INDRAWATI III PROJECT |
Power Profusion The third joint-venture
hydropower plant begins trial production, increasing the surplus on the national grid By A CORRESSPONDENT Following the liberalization of the energy
sector, many joint-venture firms have been coming to invest in hydropower and selling
their output to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The third joint-venture hydropower
project began production this week. Built as a joint venture between Norwegian
company Nizacraft and Nepal Hydro Power Company of N.B. group, the Indrawati III plant
will generate 5.92 MW of power. The capacity of the project is 7.5 MW. The project, which started trial production
on Monday, has been linked to the national grid. Until a few years ago, the NEA grid was
starved of power, with people having to undergo load shedding of up to eight hours a day. After the completion of the Indrawati
project, NEA's power capacity has gone up to 592 MW. The completion of the Kali Gandaki A
project earlier this year created a surplus on the national grid. With Indrawati III on
board, the NEA now has more than 350 million units of electricity surplus. The NEA has
already begun homework on utilizing the electricity. Apart from negotiating with India on
selling the surplus energy, the NEA is working out a strategy to increase consumption
inside the country. As only 20 percent of Nepal's population
has access to electricity, there is a possibility of increasing consumption. But who will
pay for expanding the electricity network into the rural parts of the country? If the percentage of domestic electricity
consumers increases, the NEA would not have to go around searching for markets. As Nepal's
energy sector is totally reliant on hydropower, it is much more expensive than in other
parts of the world. Although the NEA does not have to pay
Indrawati III in hard currency, the problem lies in selling the electricity. Until the NEA
finds a stable market, the government has no option other than to waste the energy. When
the Chilime project starts production, within the next few months, the surplus on the
national power grid will further increase. Nepal and India have signed an agreement to
exchange up to 100 MW of power, but both countries are yet to build a high voltage
exchange link. |
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editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
