National 6 (Spotlight Weekly)

NEPAL ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY

Powerful Action

By completing rehabilitation and reconstruction in less than a month, the NEA proves its technical capabilities

By KESHAB POUDEL

After undertaking the entire designing and other technical parts of the 20 MW Chillime Hydro Power Project, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has shown that it has strong technical capabilities to develop hydro-power plants on its own.

By completing the 144 MW Kali Gandaki-A, Nepal's largest hydro-power plant, a few years ago under its supervision, the NEA exhibited its strength in the sector. Amid the wave of opinion against the government keeping public entities, the NEA's recent achievements have give the message that public enterprises, too, can make a big difference.

Had the NEA been allowed to function independently and autonomously as explicated in the law, the situation would have much better. With total assets of Rs.74 billion, the NEA is spending more than 45.39 percent of its income on purchasing electricity from independent power producers.

Despite repeated attempts to destabilize the NEA over the last many years, the organization has proved that it still has the technical and other capabilities to operate Nepal's critical power sector.

At a time when other institutions of the country are yet to prepare post-conflict recovery plans, the NEA has already rehabilitated and reconstructed the damage done by the Maoists in the last seven years. The country's electricity supply was severely disrupted by the insurgency. The 132 KV high-tension line in Kohalpur and 132 KV high-tension line in Kavre along with many other sub-stations and local grids have been updated.

"Thanks to the efforts of the NEA board and our engineering manpower, the NEA is capable to rehabilitate and reconstruct the destroyed sections of the power distribution channel," said Dr. Janak Lal Karmacharya, managing director of the NEA addressing a press conference.

The NEA is the country's largest public-sector entity with a large pool of technical manpower involved in the construction, rehabilitation and operation of the hydro-power sector in Nepal. Minister for Water Resources Deepak Gyawali, who is also a hydro-power expert, backed the NEA's reconstruction efforts.

With the disruption of the electricity distribution channel, the country was importing power from India until a few months ago. Now the NEA has now surplus electricity and is negotiating with India to sell it. "I am happy that the NEA has completed the rehabilitation and reconstruction work so soon. Now we will concentrate our efforts to sell the surplus electricity to India," said Gyawali.

Dr. Karmacharya added: "We have spent more than Rs.227 million to reconstruct the damage but there are more indirect costs including the loss of revenue and additional burden to pay the money to export the electricity."

In its one and half decade history, the NEA has seen many difficulties. Because of rampant political intervention, the NEA management was unable to show its technical capabilities. No managing director has completed his full term in the last 10 years, and the board of directors has been reshuffled several times for purely political considerations.

Amid the enactment and amendment of regulations, many senior NEA technicians were harassed and were compelled to resign. Despite such odds, the NEA has successfully maintained its engineering sturdiness, harnessing it in a time of great need.