Soaring temperature with inadequate monsoon rain across the country leads to surge in demand for energy: NEA

The domestic demand for electricity reached a record high amount on Sunday with the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) registering the total peak demand at 2,316 MW.

The NEA records show that total energy demand was 51,692 MWh. Out of the amount, NEA and its subsidiary companies supplied 12,981 MWh of electricity, while the private sector hydropower companies supplied 29,829. Similarly, interruption consumed 375 MWh; import was 44 MWh and export to India was 12,683 MWh.

Earlier, the electricity demand hit the highest of 1,876 MW on June 27, 2022. The current historic high demand was due to soaring temperature amid the summer season.

According to the NEA, the increased use of electrical appliances including AC, refrigerator, fan and cooler with the rise in temperature has resulted in the massive increase in demand for electricity. Although the monsoon rain has started in many locations, it is yet to spread out uniformly across the country.

Chandan Kumar Ghosh, spokesperson for the NEA, said the demand for electricity is maximum in the daytime which lasts until 8 o’clock in the evening. According to him, the electricity supply is excess in the night time.

With the onset of monsoon this year, electricity production has increased in recent days. “Due to the monsoon rain, the water levels in rivers and rivulets have increased. The production could go up further once the country’s western parts get adequate rainfall,” said Ghosh.

With an increase in production, the import of electricity has fallen heavily while export has increased by a notable amount. According to the NEA, a single day import of electricity has decreased to as low as 44 MWh, which once crossed 8,000 MWh in the past one year.

Likewise, the NEA has started exporting unused electricity during the night time. According to the state-owned power utility, export to India has increased to 12,683 MWh. This season, the NEA has started electricity export since May end.

The NEA has permitted the export of 656 megawatts of electricity from 15 hydropower plants in Nepal to the competitive market of India. Nepal sold electricity worth Rs 12.40 billion to India during mid-July 2023 and mid-January 2024, which was 47.97 percent more than the figure in the same period in the previous year.

On the other hand, the NEA imported electricity worth Rs 15.21 billion to satisfy the domestic demand during the winter season. In the previous year, the import expense of electricity was recorded at Rs 19.44 billion.