KATHMANDU: A committee tasked with making suggestions on reviewing the Kabeli ‘A’ Hydroelectric Project agreement has recommended increasing power purchase rate by 2.73 per cent.
Committee Coordinator and Director General of Department of Electricity Development Dilli Bahadur Singh said that they have suggested increasing the proportion of the dollar investment from 47 to 60 per cent in which Nepali currency investment has now made 40 per cent from 53 per cent.
The power purchase rate is fixed in the currencies as per the percentage of the investment proportion. The committee counted the power purchase rate as per Sunday’s exchange rate, which is Rs 5.1143 per unit (2.73 per cent increase), which was Rs 4.9786 as per previous agreement,
“The new agreement makes profit to NEA, power purchaser in the long run as the new the escalation on the PPA rate in the dollar part is lower than the Nepali currency investment,” said Singh.
He said the committee suggested re-adjusting the investment proportion slightly for making the project viable.
The project officials had urged the Energy Ministry either to decrease the interest on the dollar investment from the World Bank via Government of Nepal or readjust the dollar proportion to make the project financially viable saying they could not find Nepali investors to finance their project.
The committee comprised representatives from the Ministry of Energy, Nepal Electricity Authority, Department of Electricity Development and the World Bank.
Source : The Himalayan Times
