Govt serious about issues raised by power promoters: Minister Khadka

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Oct. 29: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Deepak Khadka has said that the government is serious about all issues raised by the private sector.

He made this remark at a discussion with a delegation of Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN) at the Ministry on Monday.

Stating that the road map for production of 28,500 MW power by 2035 has reached the Cabinet, Minister Khadka said that the issues and support to the hydropower projects caused by the floods and landslides have been sent to Disaster Management Committee for opinion and Ministry of Finance for consent.

He said that the government is serious about issues such as extension of Required Commercial Operation Date (RCOD), opening of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and removal of bottlenecks in electricity trade.

Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Suresh Acharya said that preparations are being made to take the proposals to the Council of Ministers to resolve many issues of the private sector.

On the occasion, IPPAN President Ganesh Karki said that if the government cannot facilitate for relief and compensation for flood and landslide affected hydropower projects, it should state that clearly.

“If the government will not support the landslide and flood affected hydropower projects, we will search for alternative to bring them into operation,” he said.

He said that as the government did not facilitate not only in floods and landslides affected hydropower projects but also in any other issue, the frustration among the power promoters of the private sector was increasing.

Karki warned that if the government does not take initiative to solve the problems in time, it may not be able to control the frustration of developers in coming days.

He asked the minister why the RCOD deadline was not extended, when the relief will be given to projects affected by floods and landslides, and when the PPA will be opened.

Karki said that the production of 28,500 MW in 10 years will not be possible owing to delays in the work due to multiple regulatory agencies.