NEA board hands over procurement authority to the management
Sun, Jan 3, 2016 10:39 AM on External Media,
The board meeting of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to hand over the authority of taking procurement decisions to NEA management.
Procurement decisions include procurement of all construction works and supply of goods among others.
Source: Republica
"The decision, which was taken on last Friday, authorizes the NEA management to clear pending procurement and financial agendas," Energy Secretary Suman Prasad Sharma, who also chairs the NEA board, said.
The board meeting was held after a hiatus of four months.
NEA officials say the decision was expected as the authority of making procurement decisions rests on the management as per the Public Procurement Act 2007. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had also directed the NEA board to do so. The previous board meeting chaired by then energy minister Radha Gyawali had decided that all procurement decisions shall be made by the board. Because of this, NEA has been failing to take important financial decisions on most of the undergoing projects, including Kulekhani III and Chamelia. Similarly, the process to procure essential equipment and sign power purchase agreement from projects built by private developers has also been affected.
The Gyawali-led board had also seized the authority of signing Power Purchase Agreement of up to 25 MW with independent power producers. But the board meeting held on last Friday did not take any decision on it. This means the board will have the final say on PPAs of any projects having capacity more than one megawatt.
The decision means NEA Managing Director Mukesh Raj Kafle will now have to take decisions on controversial issues like Solu Corridor and Chamelia's variation order of Rs 1.09 billion, among others.
NEA board used to convene at least twice a week in the past. Last Friday's board meeting was the first since then energy minister Radha Gyawali was sacked as per the direction of CIAA in October.
‘Cross-border transmission line will be ready by January end’
KATHMANDU (REP-UBLICA): Officials of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) say they will be able to import an additional 90 MW from India once 400 kV Dhalkebar-Mujaffarpur Cross Border Transmission Line comes into operation.
Work on the 140-kilometer cross-border transmission line project has resumed. Officials say all works will be completed by the end of this month. Workers are busy fixing the last few towers and installing wires, according to officials.
"Though work on a 220 kV substation in Dhalkebar has been delayed, we will charge it in existing 133 kV substations to import additional energy by the end of January," Kanhaiya Manandhar, chief of the Directorate of Transmission Line at NEA, said. "Unrest in Tarai districts has affected project works," he added.
Country's first cross border transmission line spans from Dhalkebar of Nepal to Mujaffarpur of India. It will enable Nepal to both import and export the energy. NEA's system generally sees peak load in December and January. Now the system is overloaded as many households have shifted to electricity to cook food due to shortage of LP gas and kerosene.
NEA had signed an agreement with Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in October 2014 to import additional energy from the southern neighbor. The addition of 90 MW from India will increase Nepal's energy imports to a little above 300 MW.
Domestic hydropower plants are currently generating around 400 MW against the installed capacity of 758 MW. The figure also includes capacity of around a dozen quake-hit plants which have yet to start generation. According to NEA, electricity demand during peak hours climb to 1,300 MW. Due to wide gap in demand and supply, NEA has been enforcing load-shedding of up to 11 hours per day.
NEA is expected to reduce power cuts by an hour a day once it starts importing additional 90 MW from India.
Power Transmission Company of Nepal (PTCN) is implementing the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur Cross Border Transmission Line Project.
