Bishnu Bahadur Singh, director at the Project Development Department of NEA, said NEA has recently adopted a new strategy which focuses on the development of reservoir-type projects. [break]
“We will build some attractive reservoir projects on our own and encourage international parties to assist in the development of hydropower sector in Nepal,” he added.
NEA has identified six projects -- Upper Seti (127 MW), Nalsyaugadh (400MW), Tamor Reservoir Project (380 MW), Trishuli (37 MW), Tama Koshi V (87 MW) and Budhi Gandaki (600 MW - which can be developed as reservoir-type projects.
Singh said Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has showed interests to conduct feasibility of some reservoir-type projects like Nalsyaugadh and Budhi Gandaki. A taskforce at the Ministry of Energy has recently given permission to develop Budhi Gandaki in public-private-partnership model.
“Since the construction cost of reservoir-type projects is higher than run of the river type projects, it would be difficult to develop these projects without seeking assistance from international donor agencies,” Singh added.
Nepal has the total installed capacity of 600 MW and most of the country´s hydro electricity projects are run of the river type. Kulekhani I and II are the only reservoir-type projects in Nepal. Reservoir-type projects generate electricity as per the installed capacity throughout the year. Run of the river type projects generate less than one-third of the installed capacity during dry season (November to May).
Singh said the feasibility study of Upper Seti project has been concluded and they have entered into an agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for detailed design of the project. ADB has agreed in principle to provide $5 million for the project. The government has so far provided Rs 50 million for the project, which is expected to generate power by 2014/15.
Sources at Ministry of Energy informed Republica that the government has formally asked the Chinese government to help construct the Nalsyaugadh project based in Jajarkot. “We have received positive response from the Chinese government,” the sources added.
Due to massive energy deficit, NEA has been forced to impose lengthy power cuts. At present, the NEA is imposing 12 hours of power cuts a day. Energy demand is increasing at the rate of 10 to 15 percent (60 to 80 MW every year), according to Singh.
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