December 31: The high demand for electricity due to increasing cold has affected the power supply across the country. The supply system has been affected as the electricity demand has increased in the winter and the distribution system is not able to meet the demand.

With the increase in demand for electricity during winter, the supply system has become chaotic due to problems such as the burning of transformer wires, blowing of fuses, and rupture of conductors.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the peak demand for electricity has been recorded at 1,699 MW since Tuesday due to bad weather.

The demand for electricity has increased since Tuesday due to the drop in mercury level. When the average demand for electricity was 1,700 MW on Tuesday evening, many places across the country faced power cuts.

Consumers in many places complained that electricity was not been restored as of Thursday evening. According to the NEA, the problem of power outages has occurred due to the inability to meet the increased demand for electricity.

The country has already started generating 2,000 MW of electricity. Additional electricity of 3,000 MW is being generated from hydropower projects within the next 2-3 years.

However, the dependence on the decades-old distribution system of the Nepal Electricity Authority has caused problem in consuming the electricity generated in the country.

NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising has been warning that the power system could be affected at any time if additional transformers are not installed in the urban areas where there is high demand for electricity.

The peak demand on Tuesday is the highest ever recorded in the country. However, NEA spokesperson Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai said that both the demand and consumption of electricity may have decreased as the distribution lines remain disrupted even after repairs.

Bhattarai said that the demand for electricity has increased due to the cold spell across the country but they face problem in the distribution system when the demand reaches around 1,700 MW.

“Many distribution feeders have tripped. The conductors are broken. The fuses are on fire,” said Bhattarai, who is also the head of the dispatch center in Kalanki.

According to the NEA, about 30 million units of electricity were consumed in the country on Tuesday alone.

According to NEA, the demand was met by importing 8.9 million thousand units from NEA projects, 4.5 million units from NEA subsidiaries, 9.4 million units from the private sector, and 7.1 million units from India.