'Building a transmission line means winning the war'

The generation connected capacity was around 850 MW. Now it has reached 3200 MW. The generation capacity has also increased by 4 times. During the dry season, only 2/300 megawatts of energy came, but now it comes to 900 or 1000 megawatts.

But, we can do more during the peak season. In terms of our transmission distribution structure, we have increased it by about 4 times. Speaking of Birgunj itself, the industrial capacity of Birgunj has increased. Meanwhile, the capacity of the industry has doubled. In the same way, the demand and capacity in this area has also increased. Now actually, when talking about the generation, the generation of hydropower has been increased by 8 to 1 thousand megawatts every year. PPA of about 10,000 MW has been done. 5 thousand megawatt projects are under construction. Immediate hydropower takes time. There are two things in it. It takes at least 5 years.

The energy of the dry season has increased a lot. To solve that problem, we have opened up 2200 megawatts of solar to the private sector. We opened it through bidding. We have opened bids for 200 MW in Birgunj alone. We request all industrialists to participate and increase the generation capacity of Birgunj area. It does two things. It also increases the voltage. It also increases the generation capacity. Now there is also a voltage problem here. Generation should come from outside. There is no generation in Birgunj area. That's why there was a problem of voltage down.

Coming to the transmission line, the 400 KV line from Inaruwa to Dhalkewar is about to be completed. There were many problems, we have completed it as if we had won the war. Building a transmission line means winning the war. There are many problems of forest and land.

We are completing the transmission line from Dhalkevar to Hetaunda within 5/6 months. 400 kV line is also completed. 400 KV sub station line has been completed in Hetaunda. Dhalkevar 400 KV line, 400 KV line in Inaruwa has been completed. We are building a 400 KV substation in Nijgarh.

We are building a 400 KV sub station from Nijgarh. We are bringing 400 KV from Nijgarh to Ramauli. The biggest problem is the source. We are bringing 400 KV line to Birganj area as a large source is needed.

After more than 2 years, a master plan has been made by projecting the demand of industrial areas and urban areas in 11 clusters across Nepal. Among them Birganj and Hetaunda are a cluster. It is estimated that there will be 3,000 more demands in this cluster by 2050. We are making a structure accordingly. Under that one master plan, we are going to start immediately, something is in the process of being made.

We have done an immediate project of 20 billion for Birgunj area alone. We have done 20 billion transmission, substation and distribution projects. We are also making plans under the long-term plan. It will take 3 to 4 years to complete all this work.

When talking about loadshedding, the current problem is only temporary. It doesn't even last a month. Our generation is growing. Next year, there will be an additional 5/600 megawatts in the dry season as well. Solar plants are also being added. We have planned to bring it within one to two years. Our generation is also in the situation. Now the import situation is uncomfortable. Elections in India have made it uncomfortable. We have imported only in the afternoon. It is dry season. There has been some problem because they could not import at night. We have provided electricity for 12 hours in the afternoon. Even after 12 o'clock in the night, we have tried to arrange the time till 6 o'clock. At that time we can give up to 18 hours. After 1 month electricity is more. How to consume more electricity, how to export it.

Industrialists run the industry in their own way, that has also affected the fuel supply system. Iron industry of 40 megawatts will reach 40 at once, 5 megawatts will drop to 2 megawatts at once. There has also been some problem in matching supply and demand. For that, industrialists should help in scheduling. If we stay disciplined, the authority will be helped.

We have told you not to run the industry at night, to sit on the lighting load. However, as soon as the light arrives, they run the industry on their own terms. That is why it is easy for us to supply if we are disciplined for some time. For some time. If it rains in a week, we will have more. This time there is no problem with the quality. There is no voltage problem. We have run Kulekhani 24 hours a day. Even if we run 24 hours for a month and a half, we still have enough water. Because of that there is no problem with Voltes.

-Kulman Ghising is the Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority.