KATHMANDU, October 16: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has assured that there will be no power cuts during Tihar, the Hindu festival of lights, which is just around the corner.
The NEA has estimated that electricity consumption will peak at around 1,600 MW on Laxmi Puja, the main day of Tihar, which falls on Monday. The figure is similar to the electricity demand recorded on the same day last year.
NEA Spokesperson Rajan Dhakal said the authority is fully prepared to manage peak-hour demand during the festival. According to him, while household electricity use typically surges during Tihar, industrial consumption declines, balancing overall demand.
Last year, the peak demand on Laxmi Puja reached 390 MW in the Kathmandu Valley. The NEA began phasing out load-shedding in 2016, starting with Laxmi Puja as a trial. Following successful implementation, Nepal was officially declared load-shedding-free in May 2018.
Dhakal said the NEA has instructed all concerned officials to remain on high alert to minimize possible power disruptions caused by issues in the distribution system. “To prevent any interruptions, distribution center heads, power plant managers, and technical staff nationwide will remain on standby,” he said.
Recent floods triggered by incessant rainfall affected more than a dozen privately operated power projects, disrupting the production of over 105 MW of electricity. However, the NEA said this will not impact power supply during Tihar, as state-owned hydropower plants remain unaffected.
Meanwhile, Nepal earned over Rs 8.64 billion from electricity exports to India and Bangladesh during the first two months of the current fiscal year (FY), up by 10.5 percent from Rs 7.82 billion in the same period last year.
Nepal has been exporting 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh and around 1,000 MW to India during the peak generation season. In FY 2024/25, the country earned Rs 17.45 billion from electricity exports.
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