Power Infrastructure

Nepal is galloping on the path of producing hydropower more than it needs and building transmission infrastructure is the major bottleneck it has to cross in order to electrify the nook and corner of the nation as well as to export surplus power to make an income. It has already earned billions by selling excess electricity to India and during the recent India visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, the southern neighbour has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next ten years. This has opened the door for further power trade with India which has a vast power market and has been facing repeated shortage of power supply. Nepal has entered a new era in terms of hydropower generation, leaving behind a terrible situation in which power outages extended up to 16 hours daily. 

Current electricity production is sufficient to meet the domestic needs, according to Nepal Electricity Authority, and it says that the sporadic hitches seen in the supply has nothing to do with generation shortfall. Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghising says that it is only a glitch associated with the transmission and supply system, and it is temporary. Ghising has not only asked the domestic consumers to increase consumption but also pledged to keep increasing power export and the income from it. Expediting domestic consumption and exploring the export market are the best avenues that Nepal should take which helps to power development activities and narrow the existing trade deficit. Billions of rupees being spent every month to import petroleum products can be saved when we are domestically energy self-sufficient and are able to sell the surplus power to earn foreign exchange. This policy is all the more contextual at a time when the prices of petroleum fuels have been skyrocketing.

Electricity is a commodity that goes in waste in absence of consumption and trade. We are already in reliable position in power production and bigger hydropower projects are in the pipeline. Deals are being made to explore power market in Bangladesh as well. This calls for massive investment in building power transmission infrastructure. In this regard, implementation of the power transmission line and road network project under the American Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grants is gaining prominence. The agreement to implement the 630-million dollar infrastructure project has been endorsed by the parliament following debates, questions and oppositions from different quarters and now it is time to start the project and execute it seriously. The project has two components -- the power transmission line and the road maintenance and road network building. The electricity transmission line will connect Nepali grid with that of India in Gorakhpur. 

This infrastructural connectivity holds broad significance as it facilitates both power export and import with India as per the seasonal needs. Implementation of this project surfaced prominently in talks with visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu on Friday. Lu held talks with Prime Minister Prachanda and Minister for Foreign Affairs NP Saud along with Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and the main opposition leader and CPN-UML chief KP Sharma Oli. In all these meetings, the progress towards project implementation was in the focal point. The project is being launched shortly in August and will complete in five years.