Nepal to face daily load shedding of 9-hour from mid-December

The Nepal Electricity Authority ( NEA) is set to impose load shedding for 9-hour daily from mid- December, as it failed to get 50-megawatt electricity from India immediately, the local Nepal FM radio reported Sunday.

"As the Bihar government of India bordering Nepal didn't install transmission line and sub-station linking Nepal to supply electricity as per agreement between the NEA and Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India reached in February this year, we are compelled to impose load shedding," the radio reported, quoting Arjun Karki, executive director of the NEA.

The PTC is an Indian state-owned enterprise that deals on electricity supply.

"The problem of load shedding will not be solved until new project is constructed," he said. "If the things go as per the work plan of the NEA, we will be able to solve the problem by 2012, " he added.

Nepal will have to face power shortage even after the completion of 70MW Middle Marsyangdi Hydropower Project in western Nepal that is scheduled to complete by December next year as per the NEA prediction.

As there is no new project in the hand of NEA following the completion of Middle Marsyangdi, it is unlikely to meet the growing demand of power in the days to come, according to NEA.

Source: Xinhua