15 hrs a week power cut from Sunday

15 hrs a week power cut from Sunday
eKantipur.com, 4-Jan-08

Faced with 240 megawatts of power shortage due to fast depleting levels of water in the country's rivers, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to increase power cuts in central Nepal from the existing six hours a week to 15 hours from Sunday.

"There will be power cuts on six days in a week from Lahan in the east to Lamahi in the west from Sunday," said Sher Singh Bhat, chief of NEA's Systems Operations Department. "In places east of Lahan and west of Lamahi, the existing power cuts of around 11 hours a week will continue."

In the central region, power cut durations range from two to three hours a day. The power cuts will start from as early as 5 am to as late as 7:30 pm. NEA has divided the central region into seven groups with different power cut timings. In total, each household will face 15 hours of power cuts per week.

Bhat said the power demand in the country has risen to 720 megawatts. "The new power cut schedule might hold till mid-January, after which we might have to increase the power cut duration," he said.

The last power cut increase was enforced on December 18 in the central region from four to six hours.

Meanwhile, power import from India through Kataiya in the east has dropped from 55 megawatts to around 25 megawatts owing to some technical problem in the Indian grid, according to Bhat. This has temporarily increased load-shedding in the east. "Officially, there is only 11 hours of power cut per week in the east," he said.

The country is getting 20 megawatts from Tanakpur in the west.

Faced with demand pressure, NEA a month ago dissociated parts of the country west of Lamahi and east of Lahan from the national grid, and connected these to the Indian grid.

The existing supply of 480 megawatts includes supply from Kataiya, Tanakpur, Nepal's own hydropower plants and thermal plants also.

According to NEA's estimate, the country could face up to 11 hours of power cuts daily in February-March 2008, the driest period of winter. The dry season will end in April after which the power supply situation will gradually improve till the end of the monsoon next year.