Hydropower Projects Consuming Fuel Worth around 5 Billion Rupees

Kathmandu. Recently, it has been seen that the hydropower projects under construction have been consuming fuel worth around 5 billion rupees annually.

Association of Independent Power Producers of Nepal (IPPAN) has stated that around 99 percent diesel is consumed in hydropower projects from the beginning to the end of construction.

According to Mohan Dangi, Senior Vice President of Ippan, considerable amount of fuel will be consumed during the construction period of hydropower. According to him, there is excessive consumption of diesel until the hydropower project is started and completed.

He said that about 99 percent of diesel is used to operate various vehicles including excavators, loaders, unloaders, tippers, generators, etc. at the construction site.

Recently, due to regular electricity supply, the amount of diesel consumed in industries, factories, hospitals etc. has decreased, but its consumption in hydropower projects is increasing.

“Without the use of diesel, we cannot advance the hydropower project, electricity will not reach the place where the hydropower will be built. Therefore, 24 hours of electricity is required,” Dangi said. “For that, a 2 megawatt capacity diesel generator must be operated 24 hours a day at a construction site.”

Apart from that, he says that since they have to operate various types of mechanical equipment, tippers and vehicles related to construction, they all consume diesel as fuel.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority, a hydropower project with a capacity of 1 megawatt consumes an average of 2 million rupees worth of fuel in a year.

It is generally estimated that a hydropower project will take 5 years to complete, while a hydropower project built to produce 1 megawatt of energy will consume about 10 million rupees worth of fuel in 5 years.

Currently, dozens of hydropower projects with a capacity of 2,750 megawatts are under construction in 6 provinces, excluding solar power, with the investment of the government and private sector.

According to IPPAN, fuel worth 27.5 billion 44 lakh 50 thousand rupees will be spent in 5 years to complete those projects.

In one year, these projects have been spending about 5.5 billion 890 thousand rupees on diesel.

According to Lilendra Pradhan, president of Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association, its consumption has increased in hydropower projects. In recent times, apart from public transport vehicles, hydropower projects have been purchasing diesel in large quantities from the pumps.

He says that if Hydropower does not purchase diesel, the investment of the pumps will sink. clickmandu