KATHMANDU, May 12: In a bid to give impetus to hydropower development in the country, the government is reviewing additional 1,300 survey license applications of hydroelectric projects with a collective installed capacity of around 10,000 megawatts.
The Department of Electricity Development (DoED), a government entity that issues licenses to hydropower projects, has said it would complete the review of all 1,300 applications within the next couple of months.
“We will decide on issuing licenses to applicants after completion of the review,” Gokarna Raj Pantha, a senior divisional engineer and spokesperson at DoED, told Republica. The move, according to Pantha, is part of the government´s plan to discourage the tendency of holding licenses without putting in serious efforts to develop hydro projects.
DoED, which has already cancelled 565 survey applications in the last couple of months, is serious about identifying genuine hydropower developers.
Pantha said applications currently under review were registered at DoED over the last seven years. “None of the application was registered after the government increased the survey license fee,” Pantha added.
The government had earlier increased survey license fee in October 2012.
“As per my understanding, only 100 to 200 survey license applications will be approved,” Pantha said.
As of now, DoED has said it would approve survey licenses of those projects that are willing to deposit fees as per the revised fee structure.
“Though the applications were registered prior to revision of fees, applicants will have to refer to the revised fee structure to obtain licenses,” Pantha said.
The new fees are: Rs 1 million for 1MW to 5MW projects, Rs 2 million for 5 MW to 10 MW, Rs 3 million for 10MW to 25MW, Rs 4 million for 25 MW to 100 MW, Rs 5 million for 100MW to 500MW and Rs 6 million for hydro projects above 500 MW capacity.
Source : Republica
