The power distribution system control center and international level state-of-the-art data center built by Nepal Electricity Authority have been inaugurated. Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet on Friday inaugurated the International Distribution System Control and Data Center, which was built and put into operation along with the Load Dispatch Center at Suchatar in Kathmandu.

An international data center equipped with state-of-the-art facilities is being operated along with the load dispatch center at Suchatar in Kathmandu to provide services to commercial companies in the future.

In the opening program, Minister Basnet said that the construction of power distribution system control center and international level state-of-the-art data center is another important step to make Nepal’s energy sector smarter. Minister Basnet mentioned that another important achievement has been achieved to automate and modernize energy management, operation and services of the authority.

Arnaud Kushwa, Director of Asian Development Bank, Nepal Housing Mission, said that an important milestone has been achieved to modernize and digitalize the authority’s services. He emphasized that digitization of the organization is necessary to reduce the cost of energy and provide reliable services.

Kulman Ghising, Managing director of the authority, mentioned that many works have been carried forward under ‘Digital NEA’ to improve the electricity system by automating and modernizing the service delivery. He said that through the use of information technology through digital NE, the administration costs are being reduced, the efficiency of the employees is increased, and the electricity supply is being made reliable and trustworthy.

On the ground floor of the three-storey building prepared using ‘pre-fabricated containers’, there is the underground power distribution system monitoring, regulation and control and security operation room of Kathmandu Valley. The office and network operation room are located on the first floor and the data center is located on the top floor.

The data center has been built in compliance with Tier 3 international standards prescribed for data centers. The data center of this model built under the Digital NEA program is the first in Nepal to fulfill the purpose of the authority to make its service delivery digital and modern. In the data center, all the data including the server related to the information technology of the authority will be stored and stored in an integrated manner.

There are 40 information technology racks in the new data center that has been put into operation. It has 36 servers and 4 network racks. Uninterruptible power supply (N plus one power supply), humidity (cooling), automatic fire control, CCTV monitoring, continuous monitoring of operation and safety etc. have been arranged to meet the requirements of Tier 3 standards. Alternative arrangements have been made for uninterrupted power supply.

Two generators of 1 megawatt capacity have been kept ready to operate the data center safely in case there is a problem in the local and country’s power system. Two modular UPS of 300 KVA capacity have been installed. Considering the reliability of UPS, lithium ion battery has been used. The center does not need to be closed for maintenance and replacement of equipment. Electricity is supplied from 6 feeders.

An optical fiber with an alternative route has been installed to connect the head office and data center of the authority at Ratna Park. The authority’s head office and data center are connected through optical fiber from Teku and Balaju. Staff have been deployed to operate the data center 24 hours a day.

In addition to the data center, an infrastructure structure has been built that can monitor, regulate and control the underground distribution system under construction to automate the power distribution system in Kathmandu Valley. Substations and switching stations of the valley will be connected to it. From the center, it is possible to manage, monitor and control the power distribution system reaching the customer’s house below 11 KV. A charging station has also been put into operation in the data center premises so that three electric vehicles can be charged simultaneously.

Chinese company Yantai Dongfang Wisdom Electric Company Ltd. for the construction of the center. The contract was signed in July 2021 with Yantai Dongfang Wisdom Co.LTD and the work started from November of the same year. The estimated cost of the center, which was built with the investment of the government and the authority, the technical assistance of the Norwegian government and the concessional loan of the Asian Development Bank, is about 1.4 billion rupees.