3,180 km transmission lines added in nine years

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 28: In the last nine years, 3,180 circuit kilometres of transmission lines have been added to Nepal's electricity transmission system.

After the end of load-shedding, the Nepal Electricity Authority, which has prioritised electrification and safe supply of sufficient, reliable and quality electricity to the consumers, has expanded and improved infrastructure structures for transmission and distribution of power.

The transmission and distribution lines and substations are essential to supply the electricity generated in the power plants to customers' homes.

In the last nine years, the capacity of grid substations has reached 8,867 MVA while the capacity of substations increased by 6,735 MVA from 2,132 MVA in the fiscal year 2014/15.In the year 2014/15, only 66 and 132 kV transmission lines were in operation, now 220 and 400 kV transmission lines are also added.

There were 2,624 circuit kilometres (CKM) transmission lines in 2014/15, and now 3,118 CKM have been added totalling 5,742 CKM in 2022/23. Currently, the length of 66 and 132 kV transmission lines in the system is 514 and 3,979 CKM respectively. Similarly, the length of 220 and 400 kV transmission lines is 1,111 and 148 CKM respectively, said the NEA.

The largest stretch of CKM transmission lines were added in the year 2018/19 at 606 while in the year 2017/18, only 141 CKM lines were added.

In the last fiscal year 2022/23, 413 kilometers of CKMs were added to the transmission line system.

Managing Director of NEA Kul Man Ghising said that in order to address the complaints of the consumers of power tripping frequently due to technical reasons, and for sufficient, reliable, quality and safe power supply, the improvement and strengthening of the infrastructure structures of the system have begun in a planned manner.

Stating that there are problems in the construction of transmission line projects, mainly local obstacles, land acquisition, forest area land use and tree felling, he said that the projects are being advanced to solve these problems.

"On the one hand, it takes a long time for the approval of land use and tree felling in the forest area, and a large amount of money has to be paid as compensation to another agency of the government on the other hand. Due to this, the duration of the project is not only getting longer, but the price of our produced electricity is becoming expensive," said Ghising.

"There is an urgent need to declare the next 10 years as the country's development decade and to comprehensively amend or replace the current laws to facilitate the land use of the forest area, and the programmes announced through the current year's budget should be implemented quickly," he said.

In order to meet the demand for electricity till 2050, Ghising said that major cities, including Kathmandu, have been divided into 11 clusters and a master plan for transmission and substation structures has been prepared.

In addition, the construction work of 400, 220 and 132 kV east-west transmission lines has been started in the vicinity of the postal highway, considering the expansion of industrial and urban areas in the southern region of Tarai/Madhes, he said.

According to the Authority, currently 2,852 CKM transmission lines of various capacities are under construction. A maximum of 1,111 CKM of 132 kV transmission lines are under construction. Likewise, 988 and 754 CKMs of 220 and 400 kV transmission lines are also under construction.

In addition, it is proposed to proceed with the construction of 6,751 CKM. It is proposed to construct 1,141, 1,752 and 3,858 CKM of 132, 220 and 400 KV transmission lines respectively. Similarly, 10,469 MVA capacity substations of various volumes are under construction while 15,564 MVA capacity substations are proposed to be constructed, said the NEA.