Electricity Authority’s international level power distribution control centre under construction

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Kathmandu, 8 June 2022 : Nepal Electricity Authority is constructing international level distribution control center for service management of electricity distribution.

NEA is constructing a well-equipped center to fulfill the objective of making its service flow digital and modern. An international center with modern facilities is under construction along with a load dispatch center at Suchatar in Kathmandu. Work is being done with the aim of completing the construction of the center within the next five years.

The project is funded by the GoN and ADB to implement the infrastructure for Distribution Control Centre to bring about reform in the distribution sector. Through this, NEA aims to mirror the benefits to the customers that can be seen in a number of countries and can be replicated in Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

The center will have a control room of the underground distribution system under construction to automate the power distribution system of Kathmandu Valley. Valley substations and switching stations will be connected to it. It will be possible to manage, monitor and control the electricity distribution system reaching the customer’s house below 11 KV from the center. In addition, there will be an international level data center, where all the data including the server related to the information technology of the authority will be integrated.

The construction of civil structures of the Distribution Command and Control Center building has been completed using ‘Prefabricated Containers’. The three-storey building will house a data center, control room and office. As the construction of the civil structure has been completed, the connection of the equipment to be placed in the center will start now and it will take 2-3 months for that.

NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising urged the project to be completed on time as it is important to monitor the construction work on site and make the service of NEA international standard using modern information technology.

The contract was signed with Chinese company Yantai Dongfang Wisdom Electric in July 2021 and construction work started in November. The estimated cost of the project under construction with the investment of the Government of Nepal and concessional loan from the Asian Development Bank is about 12 million US dollars.

NEA is working accordingly through the concept of ‘Digital NEA’ to make its services easy, accessible and effective using modern information technology. In the first phase of modernization of distribution system and electronic service, smart meters have been installed in the houses of about 98,000 customers under Ratna Park and Maharajgunj Distribution Center. In the coming days, smart meters will be gradually installed in the homes of customers across the country.