Nepal Electricity Authority logs profits for second straight year

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    Brings down system loss by 6 percentage points to 20 percent

    KATHMANDU, Aug 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) earned net profit of Rs 1.01 billion in Fiscal Year 2017/18, thanks to drop in electricity loss in supply and distribution, NEA officials say.

    This is the second consecutive year that the state-owned power utility it has earned net profit after posing loss regularly for over a decade. Its accumulated loss stands at Rs 28.12 billion.

    NEA had posted net profit of Rs 1.51 billion in FY2016/17, a significant turnaround from the negative balance sheet of Rs 8.89 billion in FY2015/16.

    NEA earned revenue of Rs 60.48 billion in FY2016/17 ending mid-July, up from Rs 51.70 billion a year earlier.

    The power utility has managed to bring down its system loss to 20 percent in FY2017/18, down by 6 percentage points compared to a year earlier, data unveiled by NEA on Tuesday shows. This is largely duty the campaign against electricity theft and system loss initiated by NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising.

    The system loss of NEA was 25.78 percent of total energy, or 1359 GWh, in 2015/16 as per the calculation of its revenue mobilized through sale of electricity and total available energy. Such loss came down to 22.90 percent, or 1481 GWh, of the total available energy 6,257 GWh in FY2016/17.

    According to NEA, the rise in revenue is also due to the shift in energy consumption pattern. This means big household consumers and industrial consumers used more energy in FY2017/18, indicating a new dimension in the use of energy.

    NEA has projected a healthy rise in revenue in the current fiscal year when Kulekhani-3 (14 MW), Upper Trishuli 3A (60 MW) and Upper Tamakoshi (456 MW) starts power generation.

    Speaking at a program organized in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Ghising said the future of NEA looks bright. “We can invest our profit to build more hydropower plants by forming subsidiary companies.  This way, we won’t have to depend on government for resources,” he added.

    Ghising’s demand side management had worked wonder two years ago, relieving people from decade-long chronic power cuts. This was possible after NEA cut power supply through dedicated feeders to dozens of industries and businesses houses, NEA officials say.

    Source: My Republica