Kathmandu. Independent power producers’ association IPPAN hopes that the removal of take-and-pay provisions from the next fiscal year’s budget will create an environment for the private sector to invest confidently in hydropower.
In a statement issued after a press conference today, IPPAN said that the announcement of removing the provision of take and pay PPA from the gentle and peaceful movement of IPPAN with the support of all is an important achievement as there is a tradition in the past that the budget brought by the majority government in the parliament will not be changed even in special circumstances. “We hope that ppa up to 10 MW, which has been regular after the removal of the provision of Take and Pay PPA, will continue after the announcement, additional PPAs will be made as per the notification made public by the NEA and an environment will be created for the private sector to invest with confidence by opening ppas based on the Energy Development Roadmap-2081 approved by the Council of Ministers,” the statement said.
They are ready to make the government’s plan to consume 13,500 MW of electricity domestically and export 15,000 MW of electricity a success as it is the responsibility of the private sector. “We expect all kinds of facilitation from various ministries and agencies of the government as well as the Electricity Authority of Nepal to achieve this goal by creating a conducive environment for investment,” the statement said.
In the budget and programme for the upcoming fiscal year brought by the government on May 27, it was announced that a policy of power purchase agreement would be adopted to maintain a balance between power generation and consumption and power purchase agreement (PPA) would be signed on the take-and-pay basis of run-of-the-river (ROR) project. An emergency meeting of IPPAN held on May 17 decided to take action against this provision.
In the meantime, IPPAN had announced the movement on June 15 along with the meeting and precautionary movement. In the first phase, peaceful meetings, memorandums, social media and SMS messages were scheduled, while in the second phase, the movement was announced to surround the concerned bodies and to hand over the keys of the project to the government.
As part of the first phase of the agitation programme, a memorandum was sent to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on June 14, the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, the Energy Minister and the Executive Director of the Electricity Authority and the chief whips of the major political parties representing in the Parliament on June 14, through SMS, ‘Abolish the Take and Pay PPA to eliminate the energy sector, cause load shedding, drown investors and finish the country’s economy’. ।
Similarly, ippan, its members and representatives of the private sector had posted the same message on June 15 to create pressure through their respective social media platforms and on June 16, they were scheduled to create pressure to remove take and pay through discussions with policy makers. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation had sent a formal letter to the Ministry of Finance based on the proposal of the Electricity Authority to remove the Take and Pay PPA brought by the Government of Nepal on June 15.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel announced in the House of Representatives on June 17 to remove the Take and Pay PPA due to the first phase of the bhadra agitation. According to the budget, ppa can be done for projects that are sure that energy consumption and export will be done on the basis of financial risk assessment.
