FNCCI along with ACCDN had intended to begin 1 megawatt (MW) to 5 MW capacity projects in 45 districts using local funding. Nepal has the civil, technical and mechanical capacity to develop such projects.
If we start micro-hydropower on Sunday, we can produce 100 MW to 150 MW in two years, said Gyanendra Lal Pradhanang, chief of Hydropower Development Forum (HDF) of FNCCI. Production of five MW hydro-electricity needs Rs 1 billion which we can collect in the respective district, said Pradhanang. The project aims to mobilize local finance and provide electricity to nearly 300 village development committees.
Norwegian development program (NORAD) and Norwegian development fund (NORFund) are showing their interest in micro-hydropower, said FNCCI president Kush Kumar Joshi, who acompanied Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda to Norway and Finland. Nepal is suffering an acute shortage of electricity these days and micro-hydropower can be a solution. The present power cuts stretch to 16 hours a day.
Norway has consented to help in the technical part, mainly in full utility, Pradhanang clarified. He added that 126 MW electricity can be generated if the existing power plants are utilised to full capacity. Nepal is currently facing a shortage of 280 MW in winter and 80 MW in the rainy season.
HDF is to provide a technical proposal to NOR Fund through the Norwegian embassy in Nepal. We want their expertise in this sector, said Pradhanang adding that this process would be completed in two weeks.
The FNCCI team did not found windmills viable for Nepal. There is no adequate study of this sector, said Joshi. According to a preliminary study of APG, a wind-power company, Nepal has the capacity for generating 3000 MW electricity from wind-power. It is costly too, Joshi said. He pointed out two places — Batase Danda of Palpa and Nagarkot of Bhaktapur — where windmills can be set up.
If there is the political will and support we can generate at least 100 MW electricity through rural micro-hydropower projects in two years, said Pradhanang. This would also generate opportunities for investment and employment in rural regions and help decrease proverty, he said. FNCCI is planning to develop these rural hydropower projects under the public private partnership model.
