Kathmandu. Most parts of western Nepal are in darkness after the import of 80 MW of electricity from India was stopped. The general public as well as the industries operating in the area have been affected.
The Nepal Electricity Authority’s system operation department has issued a notice stating that the Mahendranagar-Tanakpur 132 kV transmission line will be shut down. The NEA has clarified that the electricity service will be shut down to repair the Tanakpur Hydropower Station.
The power outage from 132 KV cross boarder transmission line will affect industries in the industrial corridors supplying electricity from Mahendranagar of Kanchanpur, Attaria of Kailali, Pahalmanpur, Lamki, Bhurigaun, Kohalpur of Banke, Kusum, Lamahi of Dang, Shivpur and Butwal substations of Rupandehi.
The power supply will be disrupted for one week from March 29 to March 31. Most of the industries that came into operation after the Corona epidemic will be directly affected by the power cut.
In particular, small and large scale industries in Bhairahawa, Butwal, Dang, Lamahi, Kanchanpur, Nepalgunj and Mahendranagar areas will face problems.
NEA has stated that it will try to reduce the power cut time as much as possible by operating the Kulekhani project even if the power supply is cut off. The installed capacity of Kulekhani I, II & III projects is 105 MW.
As per the Mahakali Treaty, Nepal has been getting 70 million units of electricity from the Tanakpur project free of cost annually. NEA has purchased 80 MW of electricity from NVVN Power Trading Company of India at a commercial price.
Source : Capital Nepal
