13-hour-day outage to greet nation
PRAGATI SHAHI
KATHMANDU, Dec 25 - With water level in the rivers and the Kulekhani reservoir receding against the increasing demand for power, the country is all set to witness extended load-shedding hours. Come Monday, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is likely to announce a 13-hour-day load-shedding regime throughout the nation. This means that smooth supply of electricity will remain a pipedream for us, the citizens of the nation considered quite rich in water resources.
Minister for Water Resources Bishnu Poudel told a press conference on Friday, "Monday onwards, load-shedding will last 12 to 14 hours a day." Sher Singh Bhat, director at the System Operations Department of the NEA, told the Post, "From Monday, load-shedding will last at least 13- hour-day."
The recent announcement comes just a week after the government announced 63-hour-week load-shedding regime. Bhat said the current 10-hour-day load-shedding regime had failed to mitigate power crisis, thanks to the increasing disparity between the demand for power and supply. "There is no alternative but to increase load-shedding hours as the water level in the Kulekhani reservoir has decreased drastically after it was used up excessively this time to maintain a steady supply of power," said Bhat. "At present, the Kulekhani plant is generating about 9 lakh units of power each day. Despite this, there is a deficit of 3.1 million units a day. In ordinary situations, only about 2.5 lakh units should be generated through Kulekhani," the NEA official explained.
The deficit was 2.9 million units a day when the government declared 63-hours-a-week regime a week ago. "If only 2.5 lakh units is generated through Kulekhani, then the power deficit would climb to 3.8 million units a day," Bhat said. "The situation arose as excessive water was used to generate power to meet the increasing demand," he reasoned. According to Bhat, the water level at Kulekhani has been decreasing by 30 to 35 centimetres each day. "At present, the water level at Kulekhani is at its lowest," said Bhat.
The 140-MW Kulekhani plant is the only storage-type hydropower plant in the country. The current peak demand for power in the country is 770 MW, but the NEA has been able to supply only 366 MW. Meanwhile, discharge in the rivers is also receding, affecting run-of-the-river type plants. Hydropower plants generate 255 MW; the shortfall is addressed through import or thermal plants. "The duration of load-shedding will probably jump to 16 hours a day from February or even before that," said Bhat.
Source: The Kathmandu Post, 26 December 2008
KATHMANDU, Dec 25 - With water level in the rivers and the Kulekhani reservoir receding against the increasing demand for power, the country is all set to witness extended load-shedding hours. Come Monday, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is likely to announce a 13-hour-day load-shedding regime throughout the nation. This means that smooth supply of electricity will remain a pipedream for us, the citizens of the nation considered quite rich in water resources.
Minister for Water Resources Bishnu Poudel told a press conference on Friday, "Monday onwards, load-shedding will last 12 to 14 hours a day." Sher Singh Bhat, director at the System Operations Department of the NEA, told the Post, "From Monday, load-shedding will last at least 13- hour-day."
The recent announcement comes just a week after the government announced 63-hour-week load-shedding regime. Bhat said the current 10-hour-day load-shedding regime had failed to mitigate power crisis, thanks to the increasing disparity between the demand for power and supply. "There is no alternative but to increase load-shedding hours as the water level in the Kulekhani reservoir has decreased drastically after it was used up excessively this time to maintain a steady supply of power," said Bhat. "At present, the Kulekhani plant is generating about 9 lakh units of power each day. Despite this, there is a deficit of 3.1 million units a day. In ordinary situations, only about 2.5 lakh units should be generated through Kulekhani," the NEA official explained.
The deficit was 2.9 million units a day when the government declared 63-hours-a-week regime a week ago. "If only 2.5 lakh units is generated through Kulekhani, then the power deficit would climb to 3.8 million units a day," Bhat said. "The situation arose as excessive water was used to generate power to meet the increasing demand," he reasoned. According to Bhat, the water level at Kulekhani has been decreasing by 30 to 35 centimetres each day. "At present, the water level at Kulekhani is at its lowest," said Bhat.
The 140-MW Kulekhani plant is the only storage-type hydropower plant in the country. The current peak demand for power in the country is 770 MW, but the NEA has been able to supply only 366 MW. Meanwhile, discharge in the rivers is also receding, affecting run-of-the-river type plants. Hydropower plants generate 255 MW; the shortfall is addressed through import or thermal plants. "The duration of load-shedding will probably jump to 16 hours a day from February or even before that," said Bhat.
Source: The Kathmandu Post, 26 December 2008
