Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to resume signing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with projects of up to 10 MW capacity.
The executive committee of the NEA held last week decided to sign PPAs with run-of-the-river and reservoir projects with capacities of up to 10 MW. Additionally, the meeting set rates at Rs 8.4 per unit in the dry season and Rs 4.8 per unit in the wet season.
“The NEA executive committee has decided to exclude projects with up to 10 MW capacity from the quota previously fixed as per the generation mix. This decision aims to encourage investment by small domestic investors in the hydropower sector,” stated NEA Managing Director Kul Man Ghising.
According to the NEA, 89 projects with capacities of up to 10 MW have applied for PPAs. The combined capacity of these projects amounts to 351 MW.
NEA has allocated quotas for hydropower generation based on its target of generating 15,000 MW over the next 10 years. Under this quota, 25% of the energy will be generated by reservoir projects, 35% by semi-reservoir projects, and 45% by run-of-the-river projects.
Given that the quota of 6,750 MW for run-of-the-river projects has already been met, NEA had stopped signing PPAs with such projects.
