KATHMANDU, September 7: Nepal’s electricity production has reached around 2,000 MW after the 456-MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project (UTHP) started full-fledged production from Sunday.
The UTHP that started its test production two months ago has now gone into its commercial production with a full-fledged energy production. According to Kulman Ghising, managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the country is now self-reliant on electricity.
All units of Upper Tamakoshi connected to national grid
Despite having adequate production, lack of infrastructure including the transmission lines has led to the wastage of the produced energy. According to the NEA, a total of 400 MW of electricity is going to waste during night while the loss during day time stands at around 200 MW to 300 MW on a daily basis. This has made the power utility to face a financial loss of Rs 40 million every day.
NEA has proposed to export 456-MW of the UTHP and 45-MW of Bhote Koshi Hydropower Project to India, which is yet to be materialized. Currently, 108 private hydropower projects have been supplying 815-MW of electricity to the national grid. In total, the country now consumes 1,542 MW of electricity.
