KATHMANDU: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will set up a 10 megawatt solar plant at Bhairahawa, Rupandehi for electricity supply in the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA).
As per press statement issued by energy ministry, discussions were held between the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on supplying electricity at GBIA by setting up a solar plant near the airport premises.
Minister for Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation Barsha Man Pun and Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai, along with Tourism Secretary Yadav Prasad Koirala, Acting Secretary at the Ministry of Energy Praveen Aryal, Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetwal, Acting Executive Director of the Electricity Authority Hitendra Dev Shakya and other officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal concluded setting up a designated solar plant for GBIA at a meeting held today.
Following the meeting, the two ministries and NEA will prepare a detailed blueprint for the establishment of the solar plant and submit it to the ministers within a week.
The initial plan is to operate a 10 MW capacity solar plant on the vacant land of Bhairahawa Airport with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Out of the Rs 18.5 billion provided by ADB to Nepal for solar plants, the process of generating 5 MW in Jhapa, 7 MW in Butwal, 4 MW in Pokhara and 8 MW in Chanauta has already started.
As all the funds provided by the ADB will not be spent on these projects and energy is required for the airport, it is planned to have a solar plant with a capacity of 10 MW. The land required for construction of solar plant will be leased by CAAN to NEA for 25 years.
NEA is also proposing to hand over the construction of solar plant to the private sector and purchase the generated electricity and supply it to the airport.