KATHMANDU: Continuous rainfall since September 25 has damaged electricity infrastructure in various parts of the country, forcing some hydropower plants to shut down and affecting transmission and distribution systems.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said some generation plants that were temporarily shut down due to flooding have already resumed operation.
Technical teams are being deployed to restore electricity services in the remaining affected areas in coordination with distribution centres and the Grid Operations Department.
The Raghughat Hydropower Project, promoted through an NEA subsidiary, sustained damage to its tailrace gate and duct, while water entered the turbine floor. The NEA estimates that it will take around 10 days to clean the facility and resume operation.
The switchyard of the project remains in normal condition and has already been charged, according to the NEA.
Of the disrupted projects connected to the Raghughat substation, generation from projects with a combined capacity of 127 MW is in a position to resume, excluding the 40 MW Raghughat Hydropower Project.
Similarly, hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 262 MW in the Seti and Madi corridors and 190 MW in the Marsyangdi Corridor have resumed operation.
The 144 MW Kaligandaki Hydropower Project, which was disrupted by flooding, is expected to resume operation by Monday evening.
The NEA said eight hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 230 MW are currently out of operation.
Meanwhile, floods in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers on Bhadra 10 damaged the Upper Trishuli 3B 220 kV hub and affected hydropower plants, leaving a total of 430 MW of generation capacity out of the system. The preliminary estimate puts the damage to the NEA and its subsidiary companies in the area at around Rs 74 billion.
Similarly, damage to the Kushma-Dana transmission line has prevented electricity from being transmitted from seven hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 190 MW.
Preliminary information shows that towers numbered 21 and 22 on the Dana-Kushma section of the 220 kV Kaligandaki Corridor transmission line in Myagdi have been damaged.
The NEA said a detailed assessment of the transmission line damage will be available only after field inspections, as roads to several affected locations remain blocked.
On the distribution side, electricity supply has already been restored in Myagdi, Baglung, the Jhaputar substation in Tanahun and Rukum East. The NEA aims to restore electricity in Mustang, Pyuthan and Rolpa by late Monday and normalize supply in Manang by Tuesday.
Electricity demand and supply plan for the upcoming dry season
According to the NEA, an estimated 1,218 MW of electricity will be available from domestic generation during the upcoming dry season.
The country currently has an installed generation capacity of 3,739.40 MW. An additional 320.60 MW is expected to be added by Mangsir, taking total installed capacity to around 4,060 MW. However, the NEA projects that only about 30 percent of this capacity will be available during the dry season.
To balance electricity demand and supply during the dry season, the NEA plans to import a total of 1,154 MW through various arrangements, including 600 MW from Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur, 54 MW from Tanakpur-Mahendranagar, 350 MW from various points in Bihar and 150 MW through the RTC mechanism.
Under the plan, total electricity availability during the dry season is expected to reach 2,372 MW, significantly above last year’s peak national demand of 2,292 MW during the dry season.
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