Upper Trishuli I survey license to be extended again

KATHMANDU, Oct 16 : The Ministry of Energy (MoE) is tabling the proposal for extending generation license of Upper Trishuli I (216 MW) by six months in the cabinet meeting to be held on Thursday.

This will be the third time that the generation license of the project is being extended.

The government has been extending generation license of the project instead of signing Project Development Agreement (PDA) with the developer.

The project is being promoted by Nepal Water and Energy Development Company. The company is a consortium of different South Korean companies.

The cabinet had issued generation license to the company in October 2012, setting out 21-point conditions. Since then, it has already extended the license by two years.

Minister for Energy Radha Gyawali said that they had no option but to extend the deadline as there has been no progress in PDA negotiation.

Energy ministry officials say the developer has fulfilled all the commitments like constructing access road and paying fee for PDA, among others.

Meanwhile, energy ministry officials told Republica that PDA negotiation with the project will begin soon. They said the PDA for Upper Karnali signed with Indian company GMR will guide them in PDA negotiations.

However, the issue of signing Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in foreign currency as proposed by the developer might be a stumbling block to PDA as the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, which is studying the pros and cons of singing PPA in US dollar, is yet to take any decision on the issue.

Source: Republica