Electricity leakage reduced to 12%

By Laxman Kafle,Kathmandu, Jan. 20: Electricity leakage towards distribution has been reduced to 7.49 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year 2022/23.

The accumulated loss towards distribution was reduced by 1.74 percentage points to 7.49 per cent during the review period as compared to the same period last fiscal year due to the campaign of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to reduce technical and non-technical losses and improve power supply, according to the NEA.

Electricity leakage towards distribution was 9.23 per cent in mid-December and 10.86 per cent in over the fiscal year 2021/22.

During the first five months of the current fiscal year, 4.147 billion units of electricity have been received in the distribution system while only 3.836 billion units of electricity have been sold.

Around 317 million units of electricity have been leaked during the review period.

The leakage towards the transmission line was 4.56 per cent by mid-December 2022.

The electricity leakage of the overall system, including transmission and distribution, was 12.05 per cent till mid-December, 2022, said the NEA.

Electricity leakage of the entire system was 15.38 per cent by end of the last fiscal year 2021/22.

The largest part of the electricity leakage in the system is towards distribution. In the current fiscal year, the Authority has set a target of reducing the electricity leakage of the overall system to 14 per cent and loss in distribution to 8.5 per cent.

Managing Director of NEA Kul Man Ghising said that it was a great achievement to reduce the distribution leakage to 7.49 per cent, which was about 22 per cent about seven years ago.

He said that the entire team has been mobilised to make the steps taken for technical and non-technical leakage control more effective to reduce the leakage even further than the target.

Mentioning that technical leakage may increase in hilly areas in winter and terai areas in summer, Ghising said that keeping this in mind, work is being done to reduce the leakage below the desired limit.

The result of measures such as increasing the capacity of substations, adding conductors, changing overloaded transformers and encouraging the use of three-phase meters has been seen in leakage control.

Most electricity leakage in Madhes Province

Among the distribution centres under the Authority's seven provincial offices and two provincial division offices, Madhes Provincial Office, Janakpur has the biggest electricity leakage.

The total electricity leakage of 23 distribution centres under the Janakpur Provincial Office is 12.80 per cent till mid-December 2022. In the same period last year, it was 12.97 per cent.

Malangwa Distribution Centre of Sarlahi has the highest 44.83 per cent power leakage. Electricity leakage at the centre was 43.82 per cent last year. The electricity leakage of Maulapur Distribution Centre of Rautahat is 40.55 per cent and Simraungad Distribution Centre in Bara is 37.82 per cent.

Similarly, the leakage of Jaleshwar Distribution Centre of Mahottari is reduced to 34.51 per cent during the review period while it was 37.61 per cent same period last fiscal year.

The overall electricity leakage of 24 distribution centres under the Province 1 Office, Biratnagar is 7.42 per cent till mid-December 2022. In the same period last year, the leakage was 9.94 per cent.

Under the provincial office, most electricity leakage is at the Rangeli Distribution Centre in Morang. The electricity leakage of this centre is 20.52 per cent.

The overall power leakage of six distribution centres under Provincial Division Office Hetauda under Bagmati Province was 4 per cent by mid-December 2021, this year it is 4.53 per cent during the same period.

Palung Distribution Centre of Makwanpur has the highest power leakage of 24.64 per cent under the division office. The centre had 30.14 per cent leakage last fiscal year.

Similarly, the overall electricity leakage of 20 distribution centres under Bagmati Province, Province Office Kathmandu is 5.33 per cent. It was 7.47 per cent same period last fiscal year.

Sindhupalchowk Distribution Centre under the Provincial Office Kathmandu has the highest leakage of 21.37 per cent. The centre had 31.93 per cent leakage last year.

The overall electricity leakage of 12 distribution centres under the Provincial Office Pokhara under Gandaki Province is 6.43 per cent till mid-December this year. It was 7.91 per cent last year.

Tatopani Distribution Centre in Myagdi has the highest power leakage of 41.78 per cent this year. The centre had a leakage of 5.71 per cent last year.

The overall power leakage of 11 distribution centres under Provincial Office Butwal under Lumbini Province is 6.02 per cent. Last year, it was 9.48 per cent.

The highest leakage under the office is 19.79 per cent of Gulmi Distribution Centre.

The nine distribution centres under the Provincial Division Office Nepalgunj under Lumbini Province has been reduced to 3.97 per cent by mid-December this year from 7.80 per cent in the same period last fiscal year.

The highest electricity leakage under the office is 14.90 per cent of Rolpa Distribution Centre.

Similarly, the overall electricity leakage of 7 distribution centres under the Provincial Office Surkhet under Karnali Province is 10.58 per cent. Electricity leakage of 12 distribution centres under the Provincial Office Attariya under Sudurpashchim Province is 5.98 per cent by mid-December 2022.

The leakage was 5.76 per cent in the same period last fiscal year.

Bajhang Distribution Centre has the most leakage under the office. The leakage of the centre which was 19.77 per cent last year has increased to 21.91 per cent this year.