Kathmandu: A total of 33 firms have applied at the Department of Electricity Development (DoED) seeking the government approval to carry out a feasibility survey to install solar power projects.

According to the DoED, the firms have targeted to generate electricity totaling 408 MW. The government has adopted a policy to facilitate installation of solar power plants in land areas that are not cultivable.

As of now, the DoED has permitted 16 projects to produce solar energy, which have a total capacity to generate 93 MW of electricity. Of them, only four projects have started producing a total of 20 MW of electricity while nine others have recently initiated to produce 60 MW of electricity.

The sector’s regulator has permitted 21 firms to carry out the feasibility survey. They have sought to produce 568 MW of electricity.

Officials at the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said an increasing number of firms are attracted to cash in solar power due reduction in production costs in recent years. NEA purchases the electricity generated by solar power plants at Rs 7 per unit.

NEA has also been facilitating investors to install solar power plants in areas adjoining the Mid-hill Highway. As the power utility has been constructing a number of sub-stations in nearby areas of this highway, it is expected to ease evacuating the energy produced through solar plants to be installed in places around the highway.