Kathmandu. Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Kul Man Ghising has said that power production should not be halted citing lack of market.

Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN) said this during a meeting with the newly-appointed Energy Minister Ghising on Thursday. He said that the production should not be stopped as the country still needs more electricity.

“The country needs more electricity, 20,000-30,000 MW of electricity is needed, the government does not have to invest if the private sector invests,” he said, “It does not mean that there is no market for electricity, it is to create a market.” If we try to stop production now, we will have to face a big problem after 10 years. ’

On the occasion, IPPAN Chairman Ganesh Karki said that the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been putting the power purchase agreement (PPA) on hold for a long time, citing there was no market for electricity.

Reacting to this, Minister Ghising said that the private sector would be encouraged for more investment. “If the regulations and guidelines are changed, we will do it through the Council of Ministers. ’

Stating that the problems of forest sector were not addressed for the development of infrastructure including energy, he said works ranging from regulation, directives to amendment of acts would be forwarded in consultation with the Prime Minister. On the occasion, Minister Ghising urged IPPAN to come up with concrete solutions to the problems facing forests in the energy and infrastructure sectors.

During the meeting, Minister Ghising made it clear that he would not run away from problems once he comes to the decision making the appointment of ministers. He said that they were aware of PPA, RCOD extension and contingency and would take initiative to resolve the problem.

During the meeting, IPPAN President Karki highlighted the works to be carried out by the Ministry, Department of Electricity Development and Nepal Electricity Authority for the development of the energy sector.

Among the demands put forth by the Energy Ministry include facilitation in the EIRIE related to the Ministry of Forests, bringing a plan to increase power consumption, involving the private sector in the construction of transmission lines, initiating the issue of shares of hydropower companies that have been stalled at the Securities Board of Nepal for a long time even after the approval of the Electricity Regulatory Commission and paving the way for the private sector in electricity trade.

Among the demands to be carried out by the Department of Electricity Development include increasing the license period to 50 years as per the Electricity Act, 2049 BS, making arrangements to grant license to match the time of generation license with that of RCOD and amending the directives related to the license by discouraging arbitrary fines.

The works that the NEA has to do include extending the PPA of the projects that have applied for connection agreement and PPA, extending the RCOD deadline by three years, immediately forwarding the PPA of projects up to 10 MW, scrapping the contingency provision, scrapping the hydrology penalty, making arrangements to modify the energy table and automatically PPA should be made when the capacity of the projects under construction increases by 25 percent The demands included that the system should be continued.