Kathmandu, February 12
The Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IP- PAN) has welcomed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s decision to open the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for upto 1,500 MW from runof-the-river (RoR) hydropower projects on February 9. Following the NEA's decision, the association has completed the necessary procedures and has applied for PPAs totalling 1,100 MW from 240 projects.
Organising a press meet here today, the association has welcomed and expressed their gratitude towards the NEA's decision to open PPAs for 1,500 MW from RoR projects.
Speaking at the press meet, Krishna Prasad Acharya, president of IPPAN, shared that development of the energy sector had been delayed and the investments were at high risk as the PPA for RoR projects were halted for the past four years pushing the entire energy sector to a critical state, and affecting investment environment of the country. "We welcome the NEA's decision as the private sector had been waiting for this day sincelong," he said.
"While the private sector has invested about Rs 12 trillion in the energy sector, the contribution of the private sector has reached over 1700 MW of the total 2,430 MW capacity of the country. Last year, we faced a loss of Rs two billion after NEA refused to purchase power when the country's capacity was around 2,200 MW. Around 800 MW will be added to the national grid by the end of this year taking the country's energy capacity to 3,000 MW," he said.
Stating that the private sector will likely record further losses in the upcoming years, the association expressed its commitment to effectively work towards increasing domestic consumption and energy trade if the authority paves the way for it.
IPPAN has suggested the NEA to aggressively expand the energy market to support the Nepal Power Exchange Ltd Co, which was established four years ago. Moreover, the association has urged the authority to review the finalised purchase rate of solar electricity at Rs 5.94, which is not viable for the developers of such projects.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 13, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
