Govt soon to announce large hydel projects

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy Top Bahadur Rayamajhi Thursday informed that the government was soon to announce large scale hydroelectricity projects.

Addressing ‘National seminar on energy economics in Nepal’ organized by the Society of Economic Journalists – Nepal (SEJON), DPM Rayamajhi said, “The government is planning for result-oriented electricity development. The energy development master plan, which was announced last month, will be implemented soon.”

He stated that the government was planning to end load shedding completely within two years and aims at developing 10,000 megawatt electricity within a decade.

“Hydroelectricity is our primary concern however initiations are under way to develop various alternative energy projects. We have a challenge to perform the task within 5 years which couldn’t be done in decades.”

He cited issues like cutting down trees, politics, local’s demand and public procurement system as the hurdles in energy development in Nepal and said that the earthquakes and Indian blockade caused more delay and damage in various hydroelectricity projects.

“But, I am hopeful as there has been impressive progress in the last couple of months. We completed the Dhalkebar-Mujaffarpur transmission line project which is being used for the import of 82 mw of electricity from India,” he said.

He informed that the electricity act bill will soon be presented in the cabinet.

Sher Singh Bhat, deputy managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, informed that electricity projects of about 1100 mw capacity were under construction and another 1000 mw were managing financial closure.

“Prevailing legal framework seems to be an impediment for power sector development as well as its effective and efficient management and hence there is urgent need of a new legal framework on planning, sector structure, market, regulatory and consumer rights issues,” he said.

Dr. Sanjaya Sharma, joint secretary of the Ministry of Energy, said that the current laws and policies should be reviewed to create an enabling environment for the electricity development.

General secretary of Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Kumar Pandey urged the government to recognize the energy resources and consumption dimensions before formulating any new policies.

Former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Surya Nath Upadhyaya said that the new electricity act would address many problems that Nepalese energy sector was facing.

Vice president of Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party Hridayesh Tripathi, chairman of the Legislature-Parliament’s Agriculture and Water Resources Committee Gagan Thapa and chairman of Legislature-Parliament’s Development Committee Rabindra Adhikari criticised the government for its indifferences towards solving the bottlenecks in energy development.