Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Pampha Bhusal, has urged the private sector to invest in reservoir projects.
At the concluding ceremony of Himalaya Hydro Expo-2022 on Monday, Minister Bhusal said that the private sector should be involved in large-scale such projects rather than run of river (ROR) based hydropower production.
“The private sector has not invested in such projects. There will be no power purchase agreement for power produced based on ROR. So private sector should pay attention to increasing investment on such projects,” she said.
The Energy Minister pointed out the need that there was no alternative to constructing large-scale reservoir projects, saying the private sector could not provide half-quantity of electricity produced based on ROR during the summer season.
The Nepal Electricity Authority has stopped signing the PPA for ROR based hydropower projects for the last three years, and the government has put the construction of large-scale reservoir projects in priority in order to make electricity supply smooth during the summer season.
She mentioned that the government has put Dudhkoshi, Budhigandaki, Nalgadh and West Seti reservoir projects in priority.
