For most of us who have been experiencing 12 hours of “forced” power cut everyday, an hour of “voluntary” darkness might not be a big deal. However, it is an altogether different thing for those who are used to uninterrupted power supply 24/7, round the year, throughout their life. The ever increasing number of countries, cities, businesses and individuals supporting the objectives of Earth Hour shows that the organizers are successful in persuading the people that there is nothing to lose by switching off the lights and appliances for a “pre-determined” hour. And if this global solidarity sends a strong message to world leaders to make appropriate energy policies and implement appropriate plans of actions to curb the negative effects of climate change, then why not do it?
STATE OF OUR STATE
The hydropower potential of Nepal has been estimated to be around 83,000 MW – over half of which is ascertained to be economically feasible. Experts say that, if harnessed, Nepal could meet the energy demand of the whole country including half of India and part of China. Despite this enormous potential – that too from a renewable resource – Nepalis are forced to face power outage 12 hours a day.
The current 12-hour power outage – which topped 20-hours per day last year – is the compounded effect of our inept and corrupt politicians, myopic planners and also partly because of natural factors. The hydropower plants in Nepal rely on the water from snow-fed rivers and if it doesn’t rain properly in monsoon, then the water level in the reservoir go low. During dry season this is exacerbated because the snow-fed rivers run too low forcing Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) – the state-owned, sole power provider in the country – to cut power to meet the demand of all its consumers.
According to the NEA’s Fiscal Year 2008/09 report, the total power demand last year was 3859 Giga Watt hour (GWh) up from 3490 GWh the year before, which is an increase of almost 11 percent. The NEA was able to generate 3130.77 GWh from its available sources last year resulting in the shortage of 728.23 GWh, which it had to make up by resorting to load shedding.
Though our country is considered to be second only to Brazil in terms of water resources, we pay one of the highest prices for electricity.
Another interesting thing is that Nepalis are probably the only citizens of in the world who pay the highest price for the very commodity that the country is rich and famous for. Though our country is considered to be second only to Brazil in terms of water resources, we pay one of the highest prices for electricity. According to Department of Energy of US, the average retail price of electricity for residential customers is 11.55 cents per Kilo Watt Hour (KWh) – commonly known to us as one unit. What this means is that compared to our price of over NRs 9 per unit of electricity, Americans pay only about NRs 8 per unit. Even the residential customers in India pay about NRs 7 per unit.
REALITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE
Our planners and policymakers have to understand that the electricity demand is going to increase everyday along with population and urban growth. There is no alternative other than to built hydropower plants. Thermal plants are not suitable because they are only temporary solutions; they don’t serve the long-term purpose and on top of that they pollute the environment and operate on diesel, which is frequently in shortage even for it basic purpose of fuelling transportation.
Large dams are not good because of the negative environmental impacts. Some of our mega projects that would have reshaped the country by now were aborted because of the negative environmental impacts they would inflict. Microhydro – which has been lately lighting up rural households – might not be sufficient to meet the needs of the urban sprawl. We don’t have much choice and the time is running out. So we need to come up with something that meets the need of the growing population and yet is not bad for our environment. Something between mega and microhydro, whose socio-economic benefits outweighs the environmental costs. Any such project would take at least 4-5 years to complete if there is no unnecessary intervention. Hence, the population and urban growth should be incorporated to determine what size plant(s) is/are necessary to meet that energy demand.
Our planners and policymakers also need to cash in from our eco-friendly energy that comes from renewable source and our geo-political location between two energy-thirsty super powers of the future. If we have the potential to meet our own energy demand and our neighbors, then why not do it? The “clean and green” energy coming from a renewable resource might also enable us to cash in some greenbacks in this carbon economy.
On a different note, we can be an example to the whole world by not observing Earth Hour but rather urging the world to generate power as we do – using renewable resources – so that we don’t have to turn the lights off just to make a statement.
sandeepk_c_@hotmail.com
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Happy Earth Day!
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