Electricity-starved Nepal is set to import an additional 90 MW of electricity from India by January-end after the completion of a key inter-country transmission line.
The installation of Dhalkebar-Muzzafarpur inter-country transmission line is about to complete in a month and a technical test required for the same is in progress to import power to the country towards
the end of January, head of NEA transmission line, Kanhaiya lal Manandhar said.
Nepal at present imports 235 MW of electricity from India.
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state-owned power utility, has made necessary preparations to import 90 MW of electricity.
Nepal has signed a power trade agreement with India last year which facilitates the country to import additional power from the southern neighbour.
The import of additional power is expected to ease the current power outage facing the country.
The country is currently facing daily 14-hour load- shedding in its major cities.
The NEA today announced increase in the power outage time to 84 hours a week. Now, there would darkness upto 14 hours a day.
Nepal is also facing acute shortage of energy in the wake of the blockade of the Indo-Nepal border by Madhesis, largely of Indian-origin.
Many people in the urban areas are relying on electricity due to the shortage of cooking gas.
Nepal currently produces around 780 MW electricity though the domestic demand stands at 1,300 MW during peak period.
Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has during a function in Kathmandu said that the government is working towards ending the power outage within a year and for that, solar power among other alternatives would be explored.
There is a high demand for electricity in Nepal during winters and the country’s power projects are producing less electricity during the period due to low water level in the rivers. PTI