Nepal's Energy Crisis

Despite Nepal's huge hydropower potential and more than half a century of experience starting with the Pharping hydro plant in 1911, to date, less than 1% of Nepal's hydro-power resources have been tapped.  Furthermore, no significant effort has been exerted in tapping other energy sources.

Given the rapidly increasing population and burgeoning urbanization, electrical energy demand will continue to see a steep upward trend while supply will continue to fail in meeting demand. It can therefore safely be predicted that the numbers of hours of load shedding will be longer and painfully prevalent in the short to medium term.  Even the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) concedes that severity of load shedding will not diminish in the short term (refer to “Bartaman Load Shedding Lai Tat Kaal Samadhan Garni Upaya Haru Ko Sammandha Ma Sabai Pakchya Haru Ko Adhyan Gari Sujav Dina Jal Shrot Mantralaya Ko Nirnaya Anusar Gathit Samiti le Pesh Gare Ko Pratibedhan report originally available at - www.nea.org.np)

Each sector of the Nepalese economy- Nepalese households, businesses, enterprises, communications, industries, education and service sectors etc., as a result, will continue to be hit hard, therefore extensively hampering the productivity of all sectors. Thus, the provisioning of reliable and uninterruptible energy supply will remain to be one of the most pressing challenges in Nepal for the next 7-10 years.

Currently, there are three possible options for resolving power supply constraints in the short run: The first relates to the improvement in energy efficiency requiring the incorporation of up-to-date technology and the revising of existing prices, tariffs and subsidies without impeding social, economic and other related activities in the economy. Implementation of proper policies will enhance electricity efficiency and save electric energy that can potentially combat load-shedding.  However, this solution cannot be treated as anything more than a relief patch as it will not be able to provide solutions for the ever-growing demand for more energy.

The second relates to importing electricity from India to meet growing local demand, a process that up until now has been severely constrained by the lack of infrastructure. Recently, however, Nepal and India have entered into an agreement to construct four high voltage transmission links for the purpose of bulk power exchange. While this is a welcome move and concerted efforts must be made to expedite power exchange infrastructure, it still is not a viable solution as India itself is energy starved and not in any position to be exporting excessive amounts of energy to Nepal for the purpose of Nepalese industrial and economic development (a supply-demand deficit that currently is already estimated to be around 800MW(?))

The third and probably the one option that can immediately be applied is the utilization of renewable energy technologies. In Nepal, renewable energy technologies and its wider application has been limited to the rural areas of the country. According to the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) more than 100,000 solar home systems and numerous micro-hydro systems are powering rural households while more than 150,000 biogas plants have been installed throughout the country. Unfortunately renewable technologies and in particular solar energy, which has tremendous potential to provide immediate relief from power shortage woes in the urban areas of the country, remains underutilized. 

It is estimated that Nepal has a potential to generate about 26,000 MW of electricity through solar power.  It is this free and environmentally sustainable energy source that  Solar Solutions has been tapping to provide relief to those that have been affected by load-shedding. Fortunately, Nepal is blessed with more than 312 days of sunshine averaging approximately six hours per day, allowing the Solectric system to deliver power continuously 365 days a year. Solar Solutions believes that given such conditions, every individual residing in Nepal should embrace long-term sustainable practices by HARVESTING THE POWER OF SUN