Eight years following the government’s declaration of an energy crisis, the Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal (IPPAN) has once more called upon the authorities to announce a state of energy emergency and put in place necessary arrangements for the acceleration of hydropower projects.
During its presentation to the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Federal Parliament on Tuesday, the IPPAN reiterated this request. On the same day, the President of IPPAN, Ganesh Karki, also discussed the energy emergency once more in a conversation with the Confederation of Nepalese Industries.
The Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are advocating for the declaration of an energy emergency to address the issues encountered in the development of hydropower projects. They assert that regulations concerning forests, the environment, and land have been impeding hydropower development due to challenges in acquiring land and obtaining forest clearances. The IPPs suggest that these provisions should be temporarily suspended through the announcement of an energy emergency.
According to IPPAN President Karki, the private sector has demanded an energy emergency as industries in the country are not getting as much electricity as they demand, but the electricity produced by the IPPs is being wasted. Karki also pointed out that the Nepal Electricity Authority is encountering difficulties in constructing transmission lines.
The IPPAN believes that operational processes would be smoother if the government were to declare an energy emergency, as this would lead to a heightened emphasis on overcoming challenges within the energy sector. The IPPs have expressed that to attain the government’s goal of producing 30,000 MW of electricity within the next decade, the implementation of an energy emergency is imperative.
The private sector engaged in the hydropower industry is urging the parliament to announce a ‘Decade of Energy Development’ and make revisions to certain regulations. They have suggested that the government should temporarily halt specific provisions within laws pertaining to forests, the environment, and land, and instead concentrate on advancing energy-related infrastructure development.
IPPAN suggests that the immediate issuance of the new electricity bill is necessary, along with increasing the bank’s energy sector investment to 20 percent within a decade. They also emphasize the importance of fostering a political climate that supports energy development within the nation and enabling the private sector to engage in power trading.
The IPPAN has called for the establishment of a streamlined process where investors can obtain government approvals through a single point of access. Presently, investors are required to navigate through at least seven ministries and 23 departments to progress with the development of a single hydropower project.
If past precedent is anything to go by, the experiment of declaring an energy emergency has not been successful. The last time when the government announced such an emergency was in 2016. The then Cabinet endorsed the National Energy Crisis Reduction and Electricity Development Decade plan aiming to add an additional 839 MW of electricity in the next one year during the dry season.
In 2008, the government had also declared an energy emergency during the tenure of Water Resources Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel. However, it flopped as there were no concrete plans and programs. In 2012, the government again announced an energy emergency for a four-and-a-half year’s period.
