Power cuts in industries caused by flood damage and technical issues, says Kulman

Kathmandu, December 18 — Kulman Ghising, the Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, clarified that the recent power cuts to industries were due to technical issues.

Speaking with News Agency Nepal on Wednesday, he explained that power supply to industries in the Birgunj and Butwal areas had to be halted due to the need for repairs on some transmission lines.

Ghising mentioned that maintenance work was required on transmission lines, and additionally, electricity imports from India were restricted during peak hours. He said that during times of high electricity demand, especially between 5 PM and 9 PM, Nepal was unable to import electricity from India.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the flood damage to the Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project in September, which has a capacity of 456 megawatts, has caused disruptions in electricity supply.

The Executive Director further explained that the Upper Tamakoshi project, still under construction, would take another 5-6 months to fully operate. Once it starts generating electricity at full capacity, he claimed, the current load-shedding issue will be resolved.

He also mentioned that there had been problems in the transmission line for the past two to three days. A circuit was damaged in the transmission line between Dhalkebar and Nawalpur, requiring repairs on six or seven towers.

He added that it took some time to fix the Special Class Conductors (STLS) to restore the lines, which led to the need for reduced electricity supply to industries in Birgunj and the western region up to Butwal during the daytime.