Kathmandu — Nepal’s total installed power generation capacity has reached 4,296 MW. According to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, the figure is based on electricity generated by the Nepal Electricity Authority and private power producers.
The ministry stated that the 4,296 MW capacity excludes projects currently under testing as well as electricity generated from alternative energy sources. It has projected that the country’s total installed capacity will exceed 4,500 MW by the end of the current fiscal year.
At present, hydropower projects with a combined capacity of around 3,000 MW are under construction, while another 3,000 MW worth of projects are in the pipeline and preparing to enter the construction phase, according to the ministry.
So far, around 7,360 circuit kilometers of transmission lines above 66 kV have been completed. In addition, substations with a total capacity of 14,323 MVA have been constructed. The ministry also noted that nearly 8,225 circuit kilometers of 33 kV transmission lines and substations with a combined capacity of 3,308 MVA have been completed.
The Nepal Electricity Authority said that nationwide electricity leakage has been reduced to 12.5 percent due to government initiatives, active efforts, and special campaigns carried out by the authority. The ministry stated that technical losses will be gradually reduced further through substation capacity expansion, transmission line upgrades, and other technical measures.
Similarly, per capita electricity consumption has reached 450 kWh. The ministry reported that 99 percent of the population now has access to electricity through the national grid and alternative energy sources.
Electricity exports have reached 2,918 GWh so far, while imports stand at around 590 GWh.
Meanwhile, the country’s solar power generation capacity has reached 62.7 MW, while micro and small hydropower projects are producing 55.3 MW of electricity.
In the irrigation sector, irrigation facilities have so far been expanded to cover 1,587,910 hectares of land, according to the ministry. Of the total irrigable land, 532,090 hectares currently have year-round irrigation access.
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