No speedy end to load-shedding: NEA

Consumers blamed

BY THIRA L BHUSAL
KATHMANDU, Sept 17

In recent years, load-shedding has become a part of daily life in Nepal. However, daily power cuts for long hours during the monsoon never happened in previous years.

To the utter consternation of consumers, Sher Singh Bhat, director at Nepal Electrity Authority (NEA) System Operations Department says, "There is no solution to this problem in the near future."

NEA has been enforcing up to 37 hours of load-shedding a week since September 10. It states that the new load-shedding schedule had to be enforced as five towers of the Kataiya-Duhabi 132 KV transmission line collapsed due to the Koshi flood. The condition of two other towers, hit by the floods on August 18, is very vulnerable.

The Kataiya-Duhabi transmission line is key to power supply between Nepal and India. Nepal used to import 60 megawatt of electricity through the cross-border transmission line of the Kataiya-Duhabi grid. NEA argues that decreasing water level at Kulekhani reservoir is yet another reason behind prolonged load-shedding. The water level at Kulekhani is 25 meters lower than compared to this season last year.

Director Bhat says, "The water level at the Kulekhani reservoir this monsoon has reached an all time low." He says the water level in the Kulekhani reservoir can't be expected to rise now that winter is approaching.

Maintenance of the collapsed towers will take months--another piece of bad news. Bhat says it will take at least three months to reinstate all the towers.

With the arrival of winter, the run-of-the river projects will generate less electricity due to decreasing water flows in the rivers. All the hydro-electric projects in the country except Kulekhani are run-of-river type.

NEA enforced load shedding of up to 48 hours a week last winter, and worse days can be expected with the 37-hour weekly load shedding already in place.

'Consumers force us to prolong load shedding'

Director Bhat says NEA is compelled to prolong load-shedding hours.
"People use electrical appliances all at once during regular power supply-- increasing power consumption exponentially. And load-shedding hours are extended to meet the higher power consumption," he says.

NEA enforced a 16-hour load shedding schedule when demand during peak hours reached 700-MW. Its total capacity during such times was 480 to 500 MWs. But NEA re-scheduled its power cuts to 37 hours just two weeks later while its total capacity remained the same. Asked why NEA stretched the power-cut schedule though its capacity remained intact, Bhat explained, "If the load shedding schedule starts at 7 pm, for instance, consumers use their electrical gadgets including rice cookers, heaters and irons just before that. The peak hour then shifts from seven back to six and NEA has no other option than to start load shedding from 6 pm."

He said NEA can't tackle this situation and this sometimes causes unscheduled power outage.
Maintenance of turbines at Marsyangdi and Kulekhani is also contributing to power cuts. Bhat says repairs at Marsyangdi will be complete in around 20 days. With the repair of turbines at Marsyangdi, 23 MWs will be added to the national grid. NEA's failure to control power leakage is yet another major reason behind power shortage. NEA lost 25.15 percent of its total capacity due to power leakage in 2007/08.

THE KATHMANDU POST