NEA publishes white paper: Electricity access reaches over 97% in municipalities
The document was unveiled within a month of Executive Director Hitendra Dev Shakya assuming office.
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has released a white paper outlining the current state of the country’s electricity sector.
The document was unveiled within a month of Executive Director Hitendra Dev Shakya assuming office.
According to the white paper, electricity access has now reached 97.5% of municipalities.
On a ward level, the coverage is 95%, while based on household structures, electricity access stands at 91.4%.
As of the end of Falgun, the country’s internal electricity demand has reached 2,337 megawatts (MW). The NEA projects this demand to grow to 2,438 MW by the end of the current fiscal year.
Despite impressive coverage figures, Director Shakya highlighted the growing imbalance between electricity supply and demand.
He noted that excess power is wasted during the rainy season due to low consumption, while the dry season experiences power shortages that cannot be fully met.
“The coming days will pose greater challenges in managing this imbalance,” Shakya warned. According to NEA projections, Nepal will have a surplus of 2,648 MW in the rainy season of fiscal year 2082/83, and 3,316 MW in 2083/84, all of which will need to be exported.
However, during the dry seasons of those years, the country is expected to face deficits of 791 MW and 728 MW respectively, requiring electricity imports.
Shakya admitted that electricity imports cannot be completely eliminated in the near future. “At the current pace, it will take a few more years before imports can be phased out,” he said.
To ensure long-term energy security and sustainability, Shakya emphasized the need to invest in semi-reservoir, reservoir-based, and pumped-storage hydroelectric projects, as well as battery energy storage systems.
Additionally, he stressed the importance of increasing electricity consumption to absorb the growing production capacity. “We must raise the current annual electricity consumption growth rate from 12–14% to at least 20%,” Shakya said, urging coordinated efforts across all sectors.
