Kathmandu. Mohan Kumar Dagi, senior vice-president of Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN), said that most of the listed companies have been incurring losses as the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has not purchased electricity worth billions of rupees every year. He said this during a program organized to mark the 26th anniversary of IPPAN.

“Currently, we have generated 3335 MW. Most of the listed companies are incurring losses as electricity worth billions of rupees is wasted by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) every year. Projects with a capacity of 5,700 MW are under construction. “There is no doubt that projects of this capacity will generate electricity within 2÷4 years,” he ÷questioned. He demanded that the private sector should be given a license to trade electricity and build transmission lines without any hesitation in order to solve this potentially catastrophic problem.

He said energy, tourism and agriculture were the major bases for Nepal’s prosperity and had the potential of more than 82,000 MW in hydropower and more than 40,000 MW in solar power. Currently, the total power generation of the country has reached 3,195 MW and the private sector has been able to generate 3,335 MW in 26 years.

According to him, reducing the import of diesel, petrol and LPG and increasing energy consumption is the basis for prosperity. The share of electricity produced by the private sector has reached 83 per cent and the under-construction 5,700 MW projects have contributed more, he claimed.

Dagi said that it is certain that 10,000 MW of electricity will be produced in the next 2-4 years, and warned that there could be serious problems for its consumption and trade unless the policy is made on time. He also stressed on allowing the certified private sector to trade electricity and construct transmission lines.

Recalling that the country has become bright today due to the then Water Resources Minister Shailaja Acharya fixing PPA rate in 2055 BS, he said the present government could usher in a new era in energy sector by allowing the private sector for power trade. The research conducted in collaboration with IPPAN and BFIS News shows that the private sector has invested Rs 1.11 trillion in Nepal’s energy sector.

Similarly, the government sector has invested over one trillion one billion. The total investment of the banking sector in the ongoing and under-construction projects promoted by the private sector is Rs 870 billion while the private sector has invested Rs 403 billion.

A total of 1.63 crore people have received the initial public offering (IPO) issued by hydropower companies. Research conducted during the same period found that there were 10.8 million shareholders in the secondary market. The hydropower company has raised Rs 41.65 billion through the initial public offering (IPO) to the general public.