Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has unveiled its plans to expand the electricity distribution system of the country to withstand the supply of 12,000 megawatts of energy within one decade.

Stating that the current electricity distribution mechanism is weak and cannot withstand high energy flow, Kul Man Ghising, managing director of NEA, informed that the government will enhance the power distribution system in major urban and industrial states along with the increase in electricity production and its demand.

“Nepal will have surplus electricity production within the next three years once different hydropower projects are completed. Thus, there is an urgent need to upgrade and enhance the electricity distribution system and transmission lines to assure that the generated electricity is consumed domestically,” said Ghising addressing an event, which was organised to brief the achievements of NEA in the last one year, especially after Ghising was appointed to the top post of the power utility.

Informing that annual domestic demand for electricity currently stands at around 1,300 megawatts, Ghising said the country will be completely self-reliant on power after three years. At present, NEA is importing almost 400 megawatts of electricity from India to fulfil the domestic demand.

As per Ghising, NEA is also promoting the use of electric vehicles in the country to assure that power produced in the country is consumed domestically. “We are planning to set up charging stations in different parts of the country in the near future to encourage people to use electric vehicles. This will ensure that electricity consumption in the country will grow in line with increase in electricity production,” he said.

NEA has also set a target to reduce electricity leakage by three percentage points this year to 20 per cent of the overall electricity supply. By doing this, Ghising informed that the country will not have to face load-shedding during the dry season this year.

Similarly, NEA informed of its plans to promote people’s investment in different hydel projects in coming years, develop high voltage transmission lines connecting East-West and North-South parts of country, reduce operation cost of NEA, adjust electricity tariff as per production cost, carry out feasibility study of Rupa-Begnas Pump Storage Project to balance electricity demand in peak hours and electricity that is wasted at night, introduce smart grid and smart meter system to facilitate consumers and promote energy efficiency.