Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has said it has been struggling to maintain a regular power supply due to damage to power infrastructure caused by recent floods and landslides.
According to the utility, some power plants shut down due to flooding have resumed operations, while those affected by damage to transmission towers will take some time to come back online.
Speaking at a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday, NEA Executive Director Dighayu Kumar Shrestha said Sunday’s flood has affected Rahughat Hydropower Project in Myagdi district. “Damage to the tailrace gate and duct has been reported. Water has also entered the turbine floor. Ot will take around 10 days to clean the facility and resume operations,” he said.
Shrestha added that damage to the Kushma-Dana transmission line had disrupted power generation from seven hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 190 MW. “Of the projects connected to the Rahughat substation, projects with a combined capacity of 127 MW, excluding the 40-MW Rahughat project, are in a position to resume operations,” Shrestha said. “Preliminary reports show that towers No. 21 and 22 along the Dana-Kushma section of the 220-kV Kaligandaki Corridor transmission line in Myagdi had been damaged.”
He said floods on August 26 damaged the Upper Trishuli 3-B 220-kV hub and various power facilities, taking 430 MW of electricity generation out of the system. Preliminary estimates put the damage at around Rs 14 billion, he said.
Nepal’s current installed generation capacity stands at 3,739.40 MW. According to Shrestha, it is projected to reach around 4,060 MW by mid-November when an additional 320 MW is expected to come online.
Domestic generation during the dry season is expected to remain at only around 1,218 MW. This means Nepal will have to import around 1,154 MW of electricity to meet the demand.
The peak national electricity demand during last year’s dry season stood at 2,292 MW, acaccording to NEA.
