THMANDU, APR 29 – The Nepal Electricity Authority ( NEA ) has said that Kathmandu Valley is likely to be fully electrified by Wednesday evening. According to the NEA , it has been supplying 540 MW of energy throughout the country.
Apart from various pockets in the valley, 12 districts worst hit by the quakes are facing power outage as distribution mechanisms are completely devastated. Electricity polls, transmission lines and substations among others have been remained out of service.
The state-owned power utility said it was successfully operating substations in Balaju, Lazimpat and Teku which were down following Saturday’s earthquake .
“All three substations will come into operation by Wednesday,” said Mukesh Raj Kafle, managing director of NEA . “The NEA has been successful in fulfilling 70 percent of energy demand in Kathmandu valley.”
A technical team of Indian Air Force and Power Grid Corporation of India has been assisting the NEA to deal with technical glitches. Sixteen Indian engineers have been working to assist the NEA in resuming service. “The Indian team is here for assessment of damages in electricity distribution,” Kafle said.
The quake had damaged transformers and other mechanical equipments in the substations. Apart from this, the NEA has been deliberately stopping energy supplies in places where turning on energy supplies could result in further casualties. “Locals of some of the places have been urging us to keep the service down and we want to avert further damages,” Kafle said.
According to the NEA , almost all the hydropower projects including 45 MW Bhotekoshi and 10 MW Sunkoshi, in the quake-affected regions,have remained out of service following severe damages. The under-construction Trishuli 3A, Rasuwagadi and Upper Tamakoshi hydropower projects too have been damaged, the NEA confirmed.
Source : ekantipur
