Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, November 13:
Electricity consumers will witness more bright nights this winter as load-shedding, a regular practice in Nepal, is going to start some two to four weeks later as compared to the previous years.
“Thanks to the prolonged monsoon this year, the load-shedding will begin two to four weeks later than the usual routine,” said Sher Singh Bhat, the chief at the System Operation Department of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), adding that the scenario of power deficit will be clear after the festival of Chhath.
In general, the NEA prepares the routine of load-shedding by the end of November. But the NEA has not yet begun to draft the load-shedding routine for this year.
He said that the country cannot go without load-shedding at least for several years to come but, this year, the consumers will have some relief.
Last year, the consumers had to face 21 hours of load-shedding every week in the winter. The load-shedding hours reached as high as 12 hours a day by April.
During festival periods like Dashain and Tihar, the demand for electricity goes relatively down than in other normal days. “In general, we have 380 MW of power consumption in the day time but the consumption during Dashain and Tihar was only 310 MW,” he said.
“I guess the demand will rise after Chhath,” he said, adding that most of the powerhouses in the country are running in good condition at present.
“Most of the power plants are running in full capacity these days and the possibility of importing 40 MW of power from India through Kataiya-Duhabi line will also help us minimise the deficit,” he added.
Generally, there is a demand for 650 MW of electricity in the winter season, but the electricity authority has been facing a deficit of 50 MW.
[http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aCXatKsbwzqea6Pa6pa8HNamal&folder
=aCXatK&Name=City&sImageFileName=&dtSiteDate=20071114]
