Electricity’s peak demand on Laxmi Puja soared past 1 thousand 3 hundred megawatts. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had earlier projected the figure to reach around 1400 megawatts across Nepal on the most illuminated day during Tihar.
NEA MD Kulman Ghising had also urged people to exploit the electricity as far as they could. The Laxmi Puja day has remained a benchmark to measure and reflect the power independence of Nepal in recent years.
This year, the authority registered a 1 thousand, 3 hundred, and 5 MW peak demand at 6:10 pm. Last year in 2078, Nepali households raised the data to 1 thousand 2 hundred and 70 MW on the same day meaning an increase of over 35 MW this year.
| Peak demand 2079/exported | Peak demand 2078/exported | Growth |
| 1.305 thousand MW/380MW | 1.27 thousand megawatts/48MW | 35MW↑ |
The growth of power generation has helped Nepal become self-reliant for its power needs. In previous years, electricity was imported from India to sustain peak load but the situation has now reversed with Nepal also exporting power on the day which is seen as the most intense day for fulfilling power needs.
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380 MW imported, 200 MW wasted
On Laxmi Puja, Nepal was able to export 380 MW of power to India. The authority says 200 MW remained unused on the day.
NEA MD Ghising shared that the authority exported over 380 MW of power to India on Laxmi Puja.
The highest demand for power has been registered as 1700 MW in Nepal.
“In previous years, Laxmi Puja day used to be the biggest challenge to fulfill the power needs,” Ghising said, “But nowadays, there are no huge demands because industries largely shut down. This is why, we were able to import at existing rates,” he added.
On the same day, Ghising and his team visited the Load Dispatch Center (LDC) at Syuchatar and assessed the condition of demand and supply.
NEA says it was able to stream power during the Laxmi Puja day uninterrupted. Ghising has urged people to maximize their electricity consumption as there is enough generation.
Did you witness any power supply hiccups on the day of Laxmi Puja? You can share in the comments below.