two more years to end load-shedding

two more years to end load-shedding

It is nearly a year since the government announced to reduce significantly within a year and completely within two years. But there has been no respite from power cuts. Minister for Energy Janardan Sharma on Wednesday said that they would need two more years to end power outage completely. Speaking at a program organized in his honor by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Sharma said: “We, however, have to work 18 hours a day to achieve the target of ending power cuts.” 
Sharma added that it might take another one year if the work speed remains the same. Former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, in October last year when the country was facing acute shortage of petroleum products, announced to end load-shedding within a year. It took another five months for his government to prepare energy development plan for a decade that, among others, aimed to end power shortage by importing electricity from India. Among others, Oli government had announced plan to generate 200 MW from solar thermal power and 300 MW from wind plants. But the progress is nil in both fronts. An additional 180 MW power will be connected to the national grid in the current fiscal year and similar capacity in the next fiscal year. But it will be simply insufficient to meet burgeoning power demand which is expected to climb 2,000 MW by the next two years.