In an addendum notice, the NEA extended the deadline till March 13, 2023. However, the plan suffered a setback after the High Court, Patan, on May 5, 2023, issued an interim order barring the NEA from opening the bids.
“After the high court scrapped the complaints registered at the High nearly three weeks ago, the NEA decided to open the technical bid,” said a senior official of NEA. “There are about a dozen companies that have participated in the bid.” As per the bid notice, the NEA has set an upper limit on the price it is ready to pay for solar power. It has fixed the maximum price of Rs 5.94 per unit for the bidders which many solar manufacturers say is unfeasible. In March last year, the NEA decided to cap the maximum rate to be offered to solar power generators at Rs 5.94 per unit. Earlier, the NEA had been signing power purchase agreements with solar power developers at a fixed rate of Rs 7.30 per unit. Solar Electric Manufacturers Association Nepal registered a writ petition at the High Court claiming that the price cap would affect companies that have already made investments based on the prior price rate. While issuing the interim order, the High Court had taken into account the claims made by the association that the maximum price of Rs 5.94 per unit offered by the NEA would not be profitable for investors who had already made huge investments with the expectation of getting Rs 7.30 per unit, the rate fixed by the government earlier. In January last year, the NEA decided to procure solar energy only through competitive bidding, putting an end to the practice of buying power at a fixed rate in the previous three years. The NEA plans to buy a maximum of 100 MW of power from such solar plants which have been proposed to be developed by the private sector at 16 locations across the country. According to the NEA, up to 230MW of solar power plants could be developed in those locations. As per the tender notice, the bidders have to propose to develop plants with a capacity above 1 MW. The bidder can choose any solar photovoltaic power generation technology. The selected bidder will also be responsible for evacuating power from the plant to the nearby NEA substation, according to the tender notice. Nepal has a long way to go to realize its potential in solar energy with the country so far producing just 44.52MW from solar power, according to the energy ministry. Nepal has the potential to generate around 2,100MW of solar electricity, according to the Nepal Energy Sector Synopsis Report-2022. Nepal plans to have a certain portion of energy to be generated from solar. Nepal also aims to generate a total of 15,000 MW of electricity by 2030. Of total energy generation. And it wants the contribution of mini and micro-hydropower, solar, wind, and bio-energy projects at 5-10 percent as an energy mix strategy.
