DED issues survey licenses for 500 MW solar projects

Kathmandu, March 10 — The Department of Electricity Development (DED) has granted survey licenses for 500 MW solar projects.

The department announced that the licenses were given to projects that had submitted complete documents and applications.

According to the Director General of the DED, Nabin Raj Singh, 40 solar projects, each with a capacity of over 500 MW, were selected through a bid issued by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). These projects have now received survey licenses.

Singh mentioned that all applicants who had submitted their applications before the procedural amendments were given licenses. He added that there are still some pending applications from projects that applied after the amendment, and licenses for those projects will be issued after further study.

Earlier, many companies had applied for licenses to develop solar energy projects, and some had already received licenses. Now that the process is complete, the 40 companies selected through the bid by the NEA have been granted the licenses.

The Nepal Electricity Authority had earlier issued a bid for solar projects totaling about 1,000 MW, with 960 MW receiving applications. The delay in granting licenses was due to the need for approval from the Department of Irrigation for those projects that had submitted bids.

The DED amended its procedures to require approval from local bodies, and since this change, there has been a surge in solar survey licenses being issued. Projects with over 1 MW of installed capacity now require approval from local authorities before they can apply for survey licenses.

This revised system allows solar power producers to submit applications for survey and construction of projects according to the guidelines and formats set out in the rules. With the licenses now issued, these projects can proceed with signing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the NEA.

As per the agreement, projects with less than 10 MW capacity must produce power within 18 months, while projects above 10 MW must generate power within 24 months of signing the PPA.

The Nepal Electricity Authority had set a deadline for signing PPAs by February 28, but extended the deadline by two months due to delays in issuing the survey licenses.