On the Lakshmi Puja day of this year’s festival, peak demand for electricity in the country has reached 1305 megawatts. Last year, the peak demand of electricity on the day of Lakshmi Puja was 1270 MW, this year it has increased by 35 MW to 1305 MW.

The Nepal Electricity Authority has recorded a peak demand of 1305 megawatts at 6.10 pm on Monday, the day of this year’s Lakshmi Puja. 435.2 megawatts have been generated and supplied from river flow-based power plants owned by the authority, 482.2 megawatts from Upper Tamakosi, Khimti-1 and Chilim owned by the subsidiary companies of the authority and 767.5 megawatts from private sector hydropower stations.

Authority’s managing director Kulman Ghising, a team with deputy executive instructions was deployed from the load dispatch center at Suchatar for power demand and supply management on the day of Lakshmi Puja. The authority has been successful in supplying electricity across the country without interruption.

In the past years, electricity was being imported to meet the demand of Lakshmi Puja, but now the domestic production is not only meeting the demand, but it has started to exceed consumption. The Authority did not even operate the Kulekhani Reservoir Hydropower Station to meet the peak demand of Lakshmi Puja this year. Kulekhani produces 60 megawatts of electricity from the first, 32 from the second and 14 from the third.

Ghisingh, executive director of the Authority, said that during the peak time of Lakshmi Puja this year, 380 MW of electricity was exported to India and 200 MW of electricity could not be consumed. The Authority is selling the excess monsoon electricity consumed within the country through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IEX).

Managing Director Ghising said, “In the past, during load shedding, electricity consumption on the day of Lakshmi Puja was considered as peak demand, but now that is not the case, peak demand occurs at other times”. “Industrial factories and offices are all closed during Tihar, and there is no heat in Tarai and winter has not started in hilly areas including Kathmandu Valley, so now is the time when there is no demand for electricity.” He said that increasing electricity consumption internally is a big challenge.

The authority had recorded the highest peak demand in the country on June 28 last at 1747.53 MW. The peak demand of Lakshmi Puja day system including electricity consumption within the country and export to India has been recorded at 1685 MW. This year, the peak demand of the federal capital, Kathmandu Valley, and surrounding areas is 342 MW. Last year it was 320.64 MW.

The Authority requested the consumers to light the lights with confidence as there is sufficient electricity. The Authority had kept the heads of distribution centers, power houses and technical staff in readiness throughout the country to prevent power outages on the day of Lakshmi Puja.