NEA increases power outage to 10 hours

Kathmandu, December 17

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has increased power outage to up to 10 hours a day starting Friday.

The existing load shedding hours is eight-and-a-half hours a day.

The increment in the daily power cut is attributed to the reduced water levels in the river and increasing demand for power, shared Bhuwan Kumar Khattri, chief of Load Dispatch Centre, NEA.

With the revised load shedding schedule, there will be 70 hours of power cut per week with adjusted timetable for the power cut in the morning and evening in view of public convenience.

Although a total of 43 operating hydro electricity projects produce some 718 megawatts of electricity in the country, the power production drops by 50 per cent during the winter as many such projects are run-of-the-river type, as per NEA.

Only 300 megawatts of electricity is being transmitted to the central transmission line. Some 230 megawatts of power is being imported from India at present.

The power demand in the country has soared to 1,800 megawatts following the border blockade as the import of fuel, including LPG gas, has been disrupted.