Scenario of Energy Crisis in Nepal and ways to overcome the crisis

Abstract

Not only Nepal but the entire world is facing an energy crisis. But compared to other developed countries. Nepal has been suffering from a serious energy crisis for a decade. The major reason for such a crisis is the great amount of difference in demand and supply of energy. With the increase in population demand for energy has increased but the supply has remained the same for all this time. And this is the fundamental reason for the energy crisis in Nepal. Except for that geological reasons, loss of energy, energy theft, etc. is other secondary reasons [1]. For a long time due to the political instability, and lack of peace, the projects that could have reduced the energy crisis never got completed. Energy is the fundamental asset for enabling socio-economic development and poverty reduction of the nation but Nepal has always faced this energy crisis due to instability which is also one of the major reasons for being less developed despite being one of the richest countries with a great scope of hydropower [2].

This article basically deals with the scenario of the energy crisis in Nepal in the last decade as well as this decade. And how this crisis can be dealt with. In general, this article will provide insight into the overall situation of energy in Nepal.

Research objectives and research question

In the previous decade, it was so normal for Nepali people to stay in the long endless line on the road to fill the fuel/petrol/diesel in their vehicle [3]. Despite having the ultimate renewable source of energy, Nepali people had to juggle from home to fuel station almost every day. Another non-renewable source that Nepal has consumed excessively over the last decade is LPG. The study that was done in 2018 showed that the import of LPG has increased by 3.3 times as an alternate cooking fuel to kerosene and wood in the previous decade [4]. The crisis has occurred because there is a huge gap between consumption and supply of energy. If renewable sources of energy are promoted and traditional non-renewable sources of energy are discarded, that gap between supply and consumption would decrease and the crisis would mitigate.

The objectives of this article are to review the scenario of energy consumption, to find out the ways to deal with the crisis, to have overall insight into the situation of energy consumption, and to analyze if the ways to deal with the crisis are feasible or not.

Literature Review

Although there is a tremendous source of renewable sources of energy, only about 27% of the world's population has access to electricity [1]. A similar analogy can be observed in the case of Nepal too. Although Nepal has got an enormous amount of water, only 70% of the population had access to electricity in 2015 [2]. In the year 2009, the total contribution of electricity in the national consumption was 8.2% and the overall renewable energy contributed less than 1% while only. While solid biomass contributed 87% of total national consumption [5]. These statistics clearly showed that 99% of national consumption is non-renewable. Which meant the crisis was near.

In 2009, the residential sector consumed the highest percentage of energy with 89.1% of which 56.2% was LPG. The second most popular sector was transportation with 8.2%. Despite being a country with a great scope of agriculture, only 0.9% of energy was consumed in the agriculture sector [5]. But this data has changed a lot in 2015. The residential sector has consumed about 50% and agriculture has increased to 2% and the industrial sector has increased to 38% [1]. The agricultural by-product could have been used as the source of energy in rural households but since the consumption itself is low in the agricultural sector the by-product produced would not have a significant impact.

In developing countries like Nepal, agriculture, and industry are major sources of economic stability. Energy consumed in these sectors should give an optimum return for economic stability. But the case is totally different as it is in theory. The industrial sector is not giving optimum return as the consumption of fuel like coal and petroleum has been increased in industries in the past 5-6 years. And the agriculture sector which somehow returns energy in the form of animal dung, agricultural residue, wood, etc. is not promoted. So, even having some scope to reuse the energy in different ways due to lack of a proper plan, energy is not being properly utilized.

In the mid and the late ’00s, the residential sector had a major role in the consumption of energy. In fact, almost 90% of the national energy consumption was utilized for residential purposes. And remaining 9% of energy was consumed for other purposes like transportation, agriculture, commercial, etc. In the mid 10’s energy consumption for residential purposes slightly decreased and the industrial and transportation sectors increased consumption of energy. These patterns of change of energy remained. But one thing never changed. Consumption of renewable sources of energy always remained the same which was less than 1%. The top 3 sectors in which energy consumption was based are:

1.      Residential sector

2.      Industrial sector

3.      Transportation sector

The main reasons for the energy crisis are overpopulation, overuse of energy, overuse of non-renewable sources of energy, etc., and the solution to the problem is either reducing the energy consumption or finding an alternative, renewable source of energy. Nepal has the tendency to produce energy from, wind, solar, biogas, hydropower, etc. [1]. But of all these sources, hydropower is the most influential source. It is not that other sources of energy do not have an impact but the major impact is made by hydropower. Nepal has the potentiality to produce 83000 MW of electricity of which 45000 MW is feasible techno-economically [2]. With 174 billion m^3 of annual discharge, there are 6000 rivers with about 45000 km total length. But only about 1000 MW of electricity is generated [2]. With this potentiality, it is about 2% of the electricity supply of its feasible capacity. Nepal has low electricity consumption of about 140 kWh per capita per year which is almost 23 times less than world average electricity consumption [1].  The main reasons for this sad reality are the lesser number of hydropower projects and the traditional system of grid lines. The traditional national grid lines provide consistent loss during the transmission and due to this reason energy loss occurs. Furthermore, the geopolitical position is another reason for the less access to electricity. It should have been the powerhouse to the neighboring countries but Nepal itself is facing a scarcity of energy.

Major hydroelectricity projects are being constructed and some of them have started producing electricity. Recently, Nepal has started another transmission line to trade electricity with India and if possible to other neighboring countries. Major hydroelectricity projects like Arun 3, Upper Tamakoshi, Upper Karnali, Budi Gandaki, Pancheswhor, etc. are some of the largest projects [1, 2]. With the help of these projects, the energy crisis in South Asian countries could be reduced. Of all sectors, the Residential sector has the major share in the country’s energy consumption, and this sector is predominated by traditional biomass resources such as firewood, animal dung, and agricultural residues [4]. If electrical companies produce electric households, more than 50% of non-renewable energy consumption would reduce. The use of animal dung and agriculture residue might have a significant role. Similarly, if electrical vehicles like Tesla are promoted, more than 10% of the non-renewable energy consumption would reduce. Furthermore, in the industrial sector, if the technology that produces energy as the by-product is developed, the energy crisis from the world could be eradicated.

A different renewable source has been consumed in different sectors and due to this reason, energy scarcity might occur in the near future. To overcome this enormous threat, a feasible renewable source has to be discovered and brought into use. It is quite clear that hydropower has a great role to stop this inevitable crisis. Though the task that is needed to be done is really difficult, it is within the scope. With proper plan and vision, this threat can be reduced. Not only hydropower but by the proper plan of reducing the unnecessary wastage of energy, waste of energy could be reduced. Similarly finding the ways to produce energy industry that produces energy and other important compounds as a by-product or vice-versa is a creative way to reduce the energy crisis.

Methodology

The current study was content analysis and the methods were a combination of both exploratory and descriptive methods. The study intends to understand the scenario of energy consumption in Nepal. To understand it different reports on similar topics from the previous 20 years were studied using google scholar. It also aims to find out the different sectors in which the different proportion of energy is consumed. The study also tries to find the possible alternative sources that would help to control the crisis. The study intends to find out the impact Nepal might face due to the energy crisis and find out the ways to deal with the crisis.

The study intends to explore the different statistical data and how the case has changed in past decades. To understand the scenario different data from previous research was analyzed and the overall insight into the situation of energy consumption was understood. The case study was content analysis and the previous research articles, journals were read and reports from different journals and documents were read thoroughly to find out the result and conclusion of the study. The study focuses on all the questions like what, why, and how. 

 

Proposed data collection and analysis

To analyze the data of different journals and articles and annual reports of NEA, the Finance ministry of Nepal, the Annual report, etc. were read from different journals and an economic survey from the respective department. And the following charts and tables were plotted to present here and the analysis was presented in Literature Review section. This data shows that this research follows exploratory methods of research. Tables and charts on different statistics are presented below:

     Table: Ongoing hydropower projects in Nepal funded by India and China (NEA, 2017

 

National Energy Consumption Pattern of Nepal in 2009 (Source: WECS 2010)

 

 

      Sectoral Energy Consumption Pattern  (Source: WECS, 2010)

           The energy generation mix in Nepal in 2015 (Source: Ministry of Finance, Economic Survey.                                                                 Kathmandu, Nepal (2015))

 

 

The sector-wise energy consumption in Nepal’s economy in 2018 (Source: Annual report. A year in review (August 2017), p.176 Fiscal Year 2016/17)

 

 

 

Ethical issues

Ethical approval is not required in this project because this project deals with understanding the scenario of energy consumption and the ways to deal the energy crisis. No moral skepticism has to be faced in this research project because this project focuses on solving the problem that the entire world might be facing.

References

[1]

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[2]

 Poudyal, R., Loskot, P. and Parajuli, R., 2019. Innovative technologies and sustainable practices in the energy sector to overcome energy Crisis of Nepal. Innovative Technologies and Practices for Nepal, p.53.

[3]

Upadhaya, S., 2008. Energy crisis and nepal’s potentiality. The Initiation, 2(1), pp.130-135.

[4]

Bhandari, R. and Pandit, S., 2018. Electricity as a Cooking Means in Nepal—A Modelling Tool Approach. Sustainability, 10(8), p.2841.

[5]

Bhattarai, N., 2015. National Energy Demand Projections and Analysis of Nepal. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Energy System and Thermodynamics, Vienna University of Technology, Austria.

Parajuli, R., Østergaard, P.A., Dalgaard, T. and Pokharel, G.R., 2014. Energy consumption projection of Nepal: An econometric approach. Renewable Energy, 63, pp.432-444.

Rajbhandari, U.S., Prajapati, A. and Nakarmi, A.M., 2013, November. Future Energy Scenario and Implications for Technological Interventions for Nepal. In Proceedings of IOE Graduate Conference (Vol. 1, pp. 186-194).

Acharya, B. and Marhold, K., 2019. Determinants of household energy use and fuel switching behavior in Nepal. Energy, 169, pp.1132-1138.

Pokharel, S., 2003. Promotional issues on alternative energy technologies in Nepal. Energy Policy, 31(4), pp.307-318.

Dhungel, K.R., 2009. Does economic growth in Nepal cause electricity consumption. Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment, 5, pp.37-41.

Nepal, R. and Jamasb, T., 2012. Reforming small electricity systems under political instability: The case of Nepal. Energy Policy, 40, pp.242-251.

Surendra, K.C., Khanal, S.K., Shrestha, P. and Lamsal, B., 2011. Current status of renewable energy in Nepal: Opportunities and challenges. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(8), pp.4107-4117.