Govt misses per capita energy consumption target

Published On: August 13, 2019 07:00 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Aug 13: Though the government has already ended scheduled power cuts ensuring round the clock electricity supply, per capita consumption of electricity has not gone up as expected.

There has been adequate production of electricity during the rainy season in recent years, but consumption has not grown in line with the supply, data shows.

The government had set a target to raise per capita annual consumption of electricity to 250-kilowatt hour (kWh) in the last fiscal year 2018/19. However, the actual per capita consumption reached only 245 kWh, according to an annual report of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. The actual annual per capita consumption remained short of five kWh compared to the government target, shows the report.

If electricity consumption does not go rises, there are chances of energy going waste.“As energy consumption is not growing as expected, there is no alternative to encouraging locals to increase use of electrical equipments and appliances,” read the report. “The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has already started appealing the public to increase use of electrical equipment,” it added.

22% POPULATION STILL WITHOUT ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY

Though it has already been 108 years since the country started generating hydropower, 22 percent of the population still lack access to electricity. According to the annual report of the ministry, 78 percent of the population has access to electricity supplied from the national transmission system as of FY2018/19. The report shows that electricity access increased by eight percentage points in the last fiscal year. In FY2017/18, only 70 percent population had access to electricity.

The government had set a target of connecting 487,000 new households in the electricity system in FY2018/19. However, only 442,000 new households received electricity in the last fiscal year, the report shows. As of last fiscal year 2018/19, there are 4.47 million customers of the NEA.

276 KW ADDED FROM ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

The government added 276 kw of energy from alternative sources like solar and wind in the national grid in FY2018/19, up by 38 percent in the previous fiscal year. The report shows that total generation from renewable energy mini grids reached 731 KW as of FY2018/19.