Nepal plans to generate 10,000 MW of electricity in 10 years

Nepal on Thursday reiterated its commitment of generating 10,000 MW of electricity in the next decade at a power summit.

Under the theme of "10,000 MW in 10 years," the two-day event focuses on analysis of the government's strategy to meet the ambitious target and organizes discussions on hydropower development in Nepal.

There is a huge gap between demand and supply of power in Nepal, which needs to be addressed within a decade, said Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the summit.

"We always take pride that Nepal is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of water resources. However, we are currently generating negligible amount of hydropower that is less than 2 percent of technically feasible capacity," Dahal said.

"This suggests that we have vast opportunity in the power development sector that we need to utilize."

The prime minister stressed on the role of private sector, which is key to achieving the target. Dahal further informed that the government has already initiated groundwork on boosting power sector that has a huge potential for bringing economic opportunities to home.

Dahal's statement comes at a time when the country has been suffering chronic power shortages, with peak demand of nearly 1,500 MW amid installed capacity of 885 MW.

Only 65 percent of domestic households have access to electricity. Moreover, people of the urban areas including Kathmandu valley have witnessed up to 16 hours of power cut on a single day.

Speakers at the summit agreed that the hydropower would boost economic growth for the least-developed country (LDC) that aims to upgrade its LDC status by 2022.

Khadga Bista, president of Independent Power Producers Association Nepal said, "10,000 megawatt is a quantum leap, the word that we have been hearing for the last 10-15 years. And extraordinary result will require extra ordinary efforts. So we have designed this summit to highlight the challenge of 10,000 megawatt." Endit