No light at the end of the tunnel

KUNDA DIXIT

If you think 14 hours is bad, think of what lies in store: only two hours of power a day. At the rate at which demand is outstripping supply, this will soon be a reality.

The uninterrupted power supply on Wednesday illustrates why. Nepal's hydropower generation is inadequate, but when the flow of Himalayan rivers goes down because of winter drought, it gets worse. Two days of rain temporarily solved the problem, but the future doesn't look so rosy.

"It's simple," explains former Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) chief Uttar Kumar Shrestha. "We are having a 14-hour power cut in February, which will increase to 16 hours by April. With a minimum of an 80MW annual increase in demand, this will reach 19 hours next year and 22 hours the following year."

The bad news is that things will get worse before they get better. It will take at least two years to build transmission lines to import power from India, and multi-fuel plants take at least a year to set up. That is, if we start now.

The country currently has an installed capacity of 697MW, all of which, except Kulekhani, come from non-storage 'run of the river' projects. During winter, these plants generate just a third of their capacity and things are worse when the winter rains fail like this year. Demand has now reached 967MW, and there is a winter deficit of 520MW. There is a deficit of 250MW even in the monsoon.

In five years, NEA projects demand to rise to 1500MW, so we will need an installed capacity of 4500MW to cover for the winter deficit. The projects expected to be completed in the next few years (Upper Tamakosi, Upper Trisuli 3A and 3B, and Chamelia) will only add 586MW to the grid. This still means a shortfall of over 200MW at full capacity. "Projects of 2000MW should immediately go into construction if we are to keep up with demand," hydropower developer Gyanendra Lal Pradhan says.

Political instability, local unrest and financial insecurity complicate the equation. The open investment policy introduced after 1990 led to a brief boom in hydropower development, increasing capacity from 280MW to 615MW, but the war delayed new plants.

Local opposition has stalled three big projects with Indian investment: Arun III, Budi Gandaki and Upper Karnali. West Seti is facing an uncertain fate due to opposition by the Maoists. But even if these projects were to be completed, they would not end Nepal's power woes because they are all for export.

"Our priority should be to build projects for domestic consumption. Building mega projects for export will do nothing for the deficit back home," water resource analyst Ratna Sansar Shrestha says (see box).

Experts say the best short-term solution is to improve the performance of state-run stations, which are all running at 20 per cent below capacity, equivalent to 500GWh worth Rs 35 billion. Cutting down the transmission losses, currently at 26 per cent, could save 56MW. Pilferage is also very high in the Tarai, and districts like Bhaktapur.

But the only long-term solution is to start building new plants right away. For this, Nepal needs to be investment-friendly, and tariffs need to be revised. Private developers say the NEA's purchase price of Rs 4.44 per unit is not sustainable. Independent Power Producers of Nepal (IPPAN) wants the rate raised to at least Rs 5.99 per unit.
"If NEA can import Indian electricity at Rs 7.28 per unit, there is no reason why it can't buy from local developers at slightly less," IPPAN President SubarnaÂ�Das Shrestha says. Private producers say the government has a negative attitude towards domestic investors.

NEA wants to import 125MW from India for 25 years, a plan ridiculed by experts. "It is absurd to be dependent on a foreign country for a resource that we already have. If NEA bought electricity from local developers at the rate it
buys from India, we would have projects in Nepal," Shrestha says.

Even so, there may be no option but to immediately put up transmission lines to import from India to make up for the supply shortfall.

The export debate

Dipak Gyawali, water resource expert and former minister
People often cite Bhutan's example to show how it has been benefitting by exporting power to India, but Bhutan will be facing power cuts this winter onwards. This is because 80 per cent of Bhutan's electricity is exported to India, leaving just 300MW for consumption within the country.

Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, hydropower developer
There is no other way to balance the trade deficit than to export power to India. Bhutan has today an installed capacity of 15000MW but we, in the name of ultra nationalism, are hindering hydropower development. It does not make any difference who builds a project as long as it is built.

Ratna Sansar Shrestha, water resource analyst
Reducing the trade deficit with India by exporting power may sound tempting, but there is enough demand in the country itself to consume what the current projects will generate. The three industrial corridors have a demand of 200MW each and a study has shown that 648MW is needed to replace LPG gas in the Kathmandu Valley. This means we have 2200MW demand even now. Adding 10 per cent a year, peak demand in ten years will be 5700MW. Building projects that will export most of what they produce, we will not resolve the power deficit in Nepal. We should focus on using the energy for industrialisation if we want to reduce the trade deficit.

Even the optimistic scenario for 2015 looks gloomy

NEA projects by 2015:

Chamelia (30MW) 2011
Kulekhani 3 (14MW) 2011
Upper Tamakosi (456MW) 2015
Upper TrisuliÂ� 3A (60MW) 2011
Upper Trisuli 3B (40MW) 2013
Rahughat (30MW) 2013
Upper ModiA (42MW) 2010

New NEA capacity by 2015:Â� 672MW
New private plants by 2015: 281MW
Existing supply: 697MW
Installed capacity by 2015: 1,653MW
Capacity required by 2015: 4,500MW

Invest in storage

The reason power cuts are so crippling in winter is that supply dries up as the flow of Himalayan rivers goes down in winter, just when demand is at its peak. The shortfall has been made worse by successive years of winter drought since 2000.

Experts at Policy Dialogue on Hydro Power Development, recently organised by Niti Foundation, recently stressed the need for storage projects to address the winter power crisis. They said the government should now fast-track its reservoir projects that store monsoon runoff, and let private producers focus on run of the river schemes.

Kulekhani (92MW) is the only existing storage project in Nepal. NEA, with the support of ADB and Japan, has begun work on the Upper Seti dam, which can generate 127MW of peak power. The government is also looking at Seti Trisuli (128MW). West Seti (750MW) was touted as a multipurpose storage project for export. Experts now say it should be converted into a power plant to meet domestic demand.

The government's 20 Year Hydropower Development Plan has identified Tamor (380MW), Budi Gandaki (600MW), Kali Gandaki (660MW) and Nalshyagugad (400MW) to be implemented by NEA.

But reservoir projects take longer to build, and government involvement slows them down even more. Which means it will take at least 12 years for these projects to generate power even if they are launched today.

READ ALSO:
From light to darkness, KUNDA DIXIT
Demand outstrips supply, NAVIN SINGH KHADKA
White gold, KUNDA DIXIT
Power struggle, DEWAN RAI

1. chandraGurung
Thanks for showing us the face of two culprits (Dipak and Ratna) who are behind this loadshedding. I hope Dipak goes to live in Arun valley whose pollution he used to be so concerned with in the past.

However, if I have a chance, I would like to see all past electricity ministers lined up in Tudikhel and, well, slapped by hundreds of Devi Regmi. They all were pathetic.

There is only one solution now. Fire everyone in NEA. All top executives must go. We bring Chinese executives to run the NEA. If they can't deliver, we bring someone from another country. We also need to disband the union inside NEA. Enough is enough.

Posted on: 18 FEB 2011 | 12:40 PM NST

2. Lochan
I cannot agree with Gyanendra Pradhan's ".....There is no other way to balance the trade deficit than to export power to India". That is really myopic and ill considered to put it mildly.

Yes there is another way. A better way. You can not only cut the trade deficits but also the deficiency in the intellect by producing cheap and reliable electricity that attracts industries and manufacturing (local as well as foreign) that in turn can export finished products to India and rest of the world. Surely this would be better than just exporting pure and raw electricity without any value addition. Today when labour cost is no longer our comparative advantage because of low productivity we could turn cheap and reliable energy into a world beating comparative advantage.

But industries and manufacturing is much more important than mechanisms to reduce trade deficits. Without industries and manufacturing we will never be innovative. There will be no R&D. We will never develop the skills for living, thriving and dominating in an integrated world economy.

With industries the government and society will have to improve infrastructure continuously. Education standards will, willynilly, improve because industries demand ever increasing standards in education. Industries means we will develop management, technical and financial skills that Nepal sorely lacks today. With flourishing industries politicians will be less inclined towards destructive politics and concentrate on how to support the economy. That means continual reforms of our tax codes, labour laws, contract and company laws and so on. That means doing the hard and difficult but the right things. Indeed the entire collective intellect of the country will get upgraded. China, Japan or USA did not become world powers by doing the easy things like exporting hydro power and then sitting back and enjoying the revenue streams. They did the difficult things that attracted industries. Look where they are now.

Just exporting raw energy to India means we will surely become another Nigeria or Saudi Arabia and not Singapore or Japan. Surely Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are not countries that we wish to emulate. Just imagine vast sums of money coming into government coffers without much effort. The mind boggles at the thought of all the prostitution of services, talents and offices that will come in its wake. No sir, I do not want our Nepali sons and daughters to fly planes into tall buildings or be world champions in smuggling drugs by hiding them in various orifices in the body or be known as scamsters par excellence.

Perhaps Gyanendra Pradhan forgets that once the hydro plants are set up, there is hardly any need for workers and managers. It is employment light. Perhaps he forgets that just depending on one item for exports will create havoc in rest of the economy by way of Dutch Disease. Perhaps he forgets that monopsony is as bad as monopoly: in this case economically as well as politically. Perhaps he has never heard of disruptive technologies. What will happen if suddenly solar energy's efficiency went up from 12% today to say 50% like the silicon did in the late 20th century? Or if there is a sudden breakthrough in fusion technology? We will be faced with a situation with no takers for our hydro power and will go back to square one where we will have to start building our industries but this time without any comparative advantage.

Finally there are those who will say we can export our surplus energy. Yes maybe a small fraction should be exported to keep us on our toes but let us also leave a whole lot of our rivers freely flowing for nature and for future generations. Let us not dam and divert everything and then regret it afterwards. We owe that much to our future generations also.

So let us not be Bhutan. Let us be Nepal.

Posted on: 18 FEB 2011 | 2:48 PM NST

3. hange
chandra gurung & lochan, unless I am mistaken, Dipak Gyawali is against exporting to India: he said that following the Bhutan model is bad as Bhutan will now have inadequate power supply for itself from now on. So, it's just Pradhan who is the culprit.

Posted on: 18 FEB 2011 | 10:38 PM NST

4. STUPID
No doubt the article By Mr. Rai and Mahto discussed civic aspect of hydro power but here Deepak, Gaynendra & Ratana included as expert. They should also speak about the current cost of production, justified rate of return
possible source of capital and Detail impact assessment. . Is these are mystery to be hide.Who stupid agree to sign 25 year deal for Energy and additional time and cost for transition line. Don't slap these Expert master already slapped. Why People criticize Mr P. JBR, many Mini Ranas are there.

Posted on: 19 FEB 2011 | 3:06 PM NST

5. yanpras
just a stupid idea. if we really need lots of money why dont this government bring some lucrative scheme together with general population who are willing to invest in something. As long as there is voluntary participation and security of money they invest. there wont be any problem to raise the money. its not that we nepali do not have the money to invest, the problem is, we are very scare and does not want to invest in risky project. Instead Nepalese people want to keep their money in their house under the bed..... just like bhaktapur ko newar ,or lanku ko bahun jasto.... already a millioner but still the same profession, selling vegetable and milk in bicycle,,,,where are these stupid policy maker in nepal. do you dumm ass have to be reminded of this childish simple concept..asshooo haru!!!!! why dont this government bring one super fast ambitious project already fixing price of electricity lets say 6 or 7 rs per unit and allowed to participate ordinary people together with public share.... as long as you can assure that there is a benefit from it, money will be foldded..... stupid haru, thinking of buying of electricity from india in expensive cost, may be there is already commission khel on going, just like the plane purchase in RNAC....

Posted on: 19 FEB 2011 | 3:56 PM NST

6. Party Peedit
Chandra Gurung, you do show that you are very ill-informed and ill-read. It is obvious you have never read the prolific technical and popular writings of Ratna Sansar Shrestha ( www.ratnasansar.com ) where he effectively shows through factual numbers that exporting electricity under the current scenario of single market monopsony (where India as single customer does dictate the Â� price it will buy our electricity for -- at approx. Rs 3 and sell that back to us at Rs 7 as per current proposals on the table) is suicidal for Nepal and its development. It does not require a PhD to figure that one out, but you and others like you swept off your feet by the hype of hydropower-export seem unable to understand even this kindergarten arithmetics, let alone the political economyÂ� involved. Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, when he talks of reversing our balance of payments position with India by exporting electricity, also shows he either does not know kindergarten economics or that he has other deals up his sleeves with the Indian power dealers. Ratna Sansar-ji also shows in his website the data regarding some eight or so projects that were completed AFTER the collapse of Arun-3 that provided the country about a third MORE electricity at half the cost and time than Arun-3 would have. It is obvious, had Arun-3 not been cancelled, Nepal would have been far worse off than it is currently. The real culprits are the ministers and power brokers of the current regime since 2006 that have done NOTHING regarding the overall power shortage except hire their party goons into NEA, give hot air speeches and set up meaningless task forces, the first ceremonial thing Jhala Nath Khanal too has done. Nothing to control the theft of electricity (by their own cadres, as high as 60% of the total in Bhaktapur and places like Jhapa and Chitwan), nothing to stop 10000 NEA employees from getting monthly 120 units of Â� free electricity, nothing to reduce usurious 10% interest on-lending rates by the finance ministry to NEA consumers!

Regarding former minister Gyawali, I have not seen a single piece of his writing especially on Arun-3 (he too is a prolific writer and his writing are all out there in the bookshops) where he talks of pollution, since Arun-3 was never an environmental or social Â� issue but one of bad planning and economics ($5000/kw instead of $1200, the cost that Piluwa Khola was subsequently built in Arun valley) which is what the anti-Arun campaigners were gunning for, and quite successfully thank God at that. I am sure currently Gyawali would prefer to live in Arun Valley rather than Kathmandu Valley: the Tumlingtar hydro there and the Piluwa hydro built at a fourth of the cost of Arun-3 by Nepali entrepreneurs using Nepali capital and technology (in a valley still with no roads!) provide far more reliable electricity to consumers in Arun valley than the NEA does through its grid in this super-loadsheded capital city of ours!!

Party Peedit

[email protected]

Posted on: 20 FEB 2011 | 12:02 PM NST

7. BLIND
Yes,Do agree with "Party Preeditt" and like to confirm that cost of production was least and Nepali Manpower used since project inception to completion. Little incentive only paid to NEA staff and Authority. But political and outfit allowance not added there. Why above mention Veterans disclose this. Party may hang them?

Posted on: 20 FEB 2011 | 1:55 PM NST

8. jange

5. yanpras

ï¿½just like bhaktapur ko newar ,or lanku ko bahun jasto.... already a millioner but still the same profession, selling vegetable and milk in bicycle,,,,

As long as such people exist in Nepal there is hope for us. Even after having made enough money to not have to work they continue to serve the people in the best way they know how. If only the rest of Nepalis were like this there would be no load shedding.

Posted on: 20 FEB 2011 | 4:09 PM NST

9. Lesson Master
Party Peedit,

You sound like Ratna Sansar himself. If not, do friend him on Facebook.

Posted on: 20 FEB 2011 | 5:33 PM NST

10. bssss
Yes, please tell Dipak in Bhutan we had life crippling power cuts of about 2 minutes the whole winter. In my 3 bedroom apartment, I am operating 2 televisions simultaneously, 1 deep freezer, 1 fridge, 1 hot water boiler (on 12 hours usage during the day), 2 hot water geysers and one 2000 watt heater. It is colder than Kathmandu here. And when Tala hydro power project was completed, the buildings were converted into a university and with the export of electricity to India generated billions of Indian Rupees a year.

Posted on: 20 FEB 2011 | 8:02 PM NST

11. Ratna Sansar Shrestha

Dear Lesson Master

I would be honoured to befriend someone like Party Peedit. I just wish there are more discerning readers like him who are able to distinguish between what is benefical to Nepal and what is not.

Ratna Sansar Shrestha

Posted on: 21 FEB 2011 | 7:58 AM NST

12. who cares
can you guess what the game plan of ratna babu is?

-convince public, govt. that nepal will soon be needing 5k MW of electricity soon, and much more in future. how we can get more benefit by using our electricity than by selling it?

(sounds like a nationalism, true patriot- just like killing nepalese in the name of nepalese, looting nepalese in the name of nepalese, enslaving nepalese in the name of patriotism.)

-then bring in his Norwegian masters and help them to sell the electricity they be producing on higher rate to nepal. since, we all know that it will be difficult to sell electricity to india on higher rate.

what option nepal then will have, either sell excess electricity (bought on higher price) to india on cheaper rate and live slightly longer or drown into electricity bill completely sent by the Norwegian?

trust me people, nepal can never become industrialized country like korea, malaysia etc?

Posted on: 21 FEB 2011 | 11:02 AM NST

13. B2B

What is Power Factor (PF) or in the jargon of Electrical Engineers 'Cosine Factor'?

Power Factor (PF) is the ratio of Working Power (kW) to Apparent Power (KVA)

It measures how effectively electrical power is being used.

A high Power Factor (PF) signals efficient utilization of electrical power, while a low Power Factor (PF) indicates poor utilization of electrical power.

In order to determine Power Factor (PF), divide Working Power (kW) by Apparent Power ( KVA) in a linear system, the result is referred to as cos ï¿½.

PF = kW/ KVA = cos ï¿½.

For instance, if your plant operates at 100 kW and the Apparent Power consumed is 125 KVA, you divide 100 by 125 that gives the Power Factor (PF) of 0.80.

(kW)100/ (KVA)125 = PF (0.80)

Working Power (kW) and Reactive Power (kvar) together (kW + kvar = KVA) make up Apparent Power (KVA). Apparent Power is measured in kilo-volt-amperes (KVA).

Reduced Utility Bills

The electric utility provides kW and kvar to your plant in the form of KVA. While kvar doesn't register on kW demand or kWh meters, the utility's transmission and distribution system must be large enough to provide the total power.

Hence PF correction = cos ï¿½ , where PF is the ratio of kW to KVA.

PF affects every operation with 3 phase AC electrical supply to some degree or other. The PF is unity, or one. Anything less than 100 percent efficiency. means that extra power is required to achieve the actual hand. The extra power is known as Reactive Power which can be interpreted as Wattless magnetizing or wasted power, and an extra burden of the electricity supply.

PF correction is the term given to a technology that has been used since the turn of the 20th century to restore PF to close to unity as is economically viable.

PF corrector is the process of compensating for the 'lagging' current by applying or 'leading' current in the form of capacitors. This way PF is adjusted closer to unity whereby energy waste is minimized.

For ex: A 100kW motor operates at a Power Factor (PF) of 0.80 lagging. The total KVA required by the motor is actually 100kW/ 0.80 = 125KVA.

By improving the PF of the load to close to unity say 0.95, then the total power drawn from the supply will be reduced to 100KVA / 0.95 = 105KVA.

A total power reduction of 125 -105 = 20KVA, or an overall energy saving of 16 percent.

The 'Cosine Factor' will definitely help you ameliorate your ' Feel Good Factor' while footing the bill.

Posted on: 21 FEB 2011 | 12:33 PM NST

14. pointy nose
Lets have 10000 megawatts by 2020! It is not an impossible task.

Posted on: 21 FEB 2011 | 3:29 PM NST

15. nara prasad shrestha
Ratna has made so much money by opposing good hydropower projects that he should be ready to make his own hydropower project by now.

And Deepak has a name that is really ironic. As a former minister, I would like to hear what he did to make sure we have decent 'deepak' in our houses. We are tired of hearing "Thulathula guff " by these people. We need light and we need it now.

Posted on: 21 FEB 2011 | 11:02 PM NST

16. Sudin Kansakar

A demand side perspective.

I am proud to say that our country provides energy that comes from clean, renewable hydropower. But only so much water flows from our Nepali river. And our energy needs continue to grow. We need to realize as consumers of energy, that it is cheaper and easier for us to save energy today, than build new power plants that deplete our planetï¿½s priceless flora and fauna. There are several ways, to save energy and may be even lower our electricity bill. If we as individual household reduce our energy consumption by even 5%, I believe that Nepal, and the world would be a better place to live in. I urge everyone to take this quote to their heart; the ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. So what we do in our individual life might not seem much, but collectively, we can reduce the hours of load shedding by saving energy in our daily use.

Posted on: 21 FEB 2011 | 4:43 AM NST

17. sirusvirus
100 years ago we had street lights wow even before UNITED KINGDOM HAD STREET LIGHTS wow pretty impressed LAUGH OUT LOUD "LOL" and we are still talking about it and its 2011 LAUGH OUT LOUD "LOL" . So what did really happen in between

Girija Prasad Koirala got elected three times boy he made himself proud with a hat-trick in an empty post "LOL" .. ..Krisna Prasad Bhatari almost made it one was offside LOL ...In between howmany tried to beat his score line who knows ....BAM and Puspa started a revolution WOW was impressed but took the wrong weapon to the battle as We hear they both forgot to clean there weapons and misfired LOL ....HMMM ...HATARI BATI JANA LAGYO RAY AMMA LAY KYA BORE

Posted on: 22 FEB 2011 | 7:56 AM NST

18. STUPID
If we can dare to open 72 km fast track express way with due assistance of
NA what is stopping us for Budhi or Rahu khola. These all depends on Energy Mafia -falltician are blind like makune or jhonath and poltician very clever like Expert-Gynawali-associates it need only five year to come out of crisis.

Posted on: 22 FEB 2011 | 10:24 AM NST

19. Sadikshya
Nepal importing power from India is shameful ! Are we not the 2nd richest country for water resources?

Posted on: 23 FEB 2011 | 8:00 AM NST

20. SLKayestha

Nepal has a giant storage of clean water (around 1/3 of the Himalayan range), which is equivalent to a storage of petroleum in Arabian countries. Everybody knows this is a source of few big rivers, which flows to India and then Bangladesh.

We CANNOT hold this flow of river like oil in Arab to wait for someone to sell in a high price. And these rivers are kind of headache to India. There is a flood every year as we don't have build a dam to hold water. India cannot do anything with this running water to generate power because its land structure. India will have a massive power demand and is definitely interested in hydro power potential of Nepal.

Things to be noted is that, Nepal do not have enough capability to rise funding and to construct few of the biggest hydropower plants. If not India, we seek for support from some other countries. India is not taking a power free of cost. Responsibility of giant construction will be carried out. Apart from this, they will be paying for what amount of power they utilize.

We are deferring the projects with different causes at different times. More time we loss, more pain we have to bear, socially and/or economically. Number of industries shutting down has tremendously increased. The primary reason for this is, there is no sufficient power.

Water is a renewable energy, which will not get finished one day like the oil in Arab. It will come back to us in the form of precipitation falls as a snow and hail and again get deposited in a Himalayan range.

Now, make a choice ï¿½ you want to argue and stop power plant constructions because of various reasons and let the money flow or tap the potential of natural resources in which raw material (water) is free of cost for you and generate income. Choice is yours. Make a wise judgment, develop country and people.

Posted on: 23 FEB 2011 | 1:12 PM NST

21. Pokhreli
Without the storage type hydropower station we will always have power shortages. It is imperative it is built one as part of a national project whether with our own budget (preferable) our with foreign money. The power generated should be used for domestic consumption only. Furthermore, we should concentrate on supplying domestic demands before export. BOP will adjust itself once we can establish competitive industrial base based on cheap and plentiful energy from hydropower.

Posted on: 24 FEB 2011 | 11:20 AM NST

22. STUPID
Dear Expert you people are silent yet, if you expedite the NEA damped store , spares ,equipments and overstaffed combined will yield finance for 5 mega watt project .They know far better... how crisis can be over come in shortest period.

Posted on: 24 FEB 2011 | 12:02 PM NST

23. nepal has this and that
Nepal has this and that but what is the use if it isn't used. Bahuns have ruined this country with their infighting and bickering. Dahal vs. Nepal. vs. Koirala vs. Bhatarai vs. Sharma vs. Rana vs. the rest of us!!!!

Posted on: 24 FEB 2011 | 1:10 PM NST

24. nepalshining
Thanks to visionary leader like Dipak Gyawali we have this new's story.

Load-shedding compels Parbat hospital to carry out child delivery under cell-phone light.
A pregnant woman gave birth to a child in the presence of mobile phone light due to load-shedding in district hospital Parbat, RSS reports.

Though the room to undergo delivery needs adequate light, it was carried out in light of mobile phone set in the absence of alternative arrangement of load-shedding.

The hospital is compelled to carry out child delivery in mobile set light when power supply witnessed crisis in wards due to use of heaters in-doors and quarters of hospital, according to hospital source. nepalnews.com

Posted on: 24 FEB 2011 | 1:17 PM NST

25. B2B
Let me get this right. All this near-catatonic hysteria about Hydro-power could be amended by means of a spell of re-arrangement.

The new solution is the adaptation of pyrolysis that folks all around the world are harnessing by leaps and bounds. We've often on telly various debates about how to meet the future demands in energy of the increasing populace. The think tanks have found out one of the solutions would be the adaptation of the process of pyrolysis.

In North Ireland we were shown a newly constructed factory where in a furnace at 400ï¿½C all plastic objects are burnt to recuperate fuel and thereby accumulating the energy for the sake of lighting. Very recently, the students of the University of Pondichery in India have reached a very high degree of knowledge in this regard, and they are at the point of starting to produce energy for consumption.

I therefore entreat you guys to better collect knowledge from different sources to get away from this permanent fog of controversy.

Posted on: 24 FEB 2011 | 2:13 PM NST

26. Purusotam Basnet
Thanks for nice article and vital information. We may blame to Maoist for the security reason that we could not develop enough during civil war. But so called "expert" still give example of Bhutan. Shame!! for them!!We all know that Bhutan with the pupulation of 600,000 (six lakh) need not 300 MW power. Do not try to make us fool. May be this is the way you all (expert) can make politicians fool because they are already fool. Rememebr your childern will also suffer!! We can not make any progress of this age without electricity. Several generation will suffer. It does not matter waht but we neeed money and we need electricity and we need development and prosperous Nepal. What ever it come first we have to take. If we have money we can make electricity and if we have electriciry we cam money. We should not fight which should be first.

Posted on: 24 FEB 2011 | 6:26 PM NST

27. Suman

Unless the policy is made foreign investment friendly there wont be construction of any large projects. First thing to be done is to increase the PPA rate. Secondly foreign and domestic investment friendly policy is required. And thirdly all those oldies and corrupt bastards should be kicked out from their posts.

Look at the Sudan kanda , 66% comission , what the hell was that . Dont you think its an insult of the whole law system of our country. Most of the people in power are corrupt and still there is no any action against them. Should the public start taking action ? Where is Judiciary body ?

There is a lot of money in Nepal itself but all the banks are afraid to invest in it due to uncertainity (due to past experience) . So the government should build the framework to make sure that the investors will get good return and the projects won't be stopped in the middle .

At the end of every fiscal year government has Billions of unused money, why dont they use that money to build infrastructure and big projects with that money ? These politicians arent doing anything for the country, they are too self centred for ghus. They dont have patriotism and duty of care toward its country men. They will sure go to hell.

Also , if anyone in here has hydropower projects close to stage of PPA ( or with PPA) agreement please contact us. We have few investors willing to invest in HP in Nepal.

[email protected]

www.rivercitylink.com

Posted on: 24 FEB 2011 | 9:48 PM NST