Powering progress

 Nagaland faces a huge task in meeting the growing demand for power which is projected to rise to approximately 700 MW by 2040 when number of power consumers is expected to also rise as against the present demand of around 300 MW. The ‘Domestic’ category makes up 47.5 percent of the total 2.87 lakhs metered consumers, as per the Department of Power, Nagaland 2018-19 data. The latest data for 2019-20, estimates the total consumers at 3.3 lakhs with the Domestic category, including BPL consumers, making up a little over 3 lakhs of the total. According to Department of Power Nagaland(DoPN), Nagaland suffers an average shortfall of 21.5 MW during peak load hours in a day. This indicates that there is a considerable gap between demand and availability even presently, catering to future projected demand is a huge challenge in itself, according to Association of Power Engineers Nagaland. According to the ‘Vision Document 2021’ presented by the Association of Power Engineers Nagaland (APEN) on March 4, on the occasion of World Engineering Day organized by the Federation of Nagaland State Engineering Service Association (FONSESA), Nagaland must take concrete steps to meet the challenges of providing adequate power in the next three years by 2024. Power supplied to the state was around 150 MW to 160 MW from Central sector allocation while the state-owned mini-hydro power generation was around 24 MW. During monsoon season only 115 MW is available from the central sector and 21 MW from state-owned sector while in lean season it is 98 MW from the central and 12 MW from the state. The other factor that has been a perennial problem is loss of revenue in the power sector. The state government spends nearly Rs.300 crore to buy power to meet the shortfall. However, the revenue receipts show a dismally low collection of hardly Rs.140 to Rs.150 crore annually from government data. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio during the Assembly deliberations on ‘Power Reforms’ informed that the state has been facing a revenue gap of between Rs 150 crore to Rs 229 crore annually for the last four years. In order to address the problem of loss in revenue, the state government has decided to review the Nagaland Communitisation of Public Institutions and Services Act, 2002 through which the authorities vested responsibilities for management of power and services to the local communities. The village committees on power are expected to collect payments from consumers then deposit with the department after taking 15% commission. In order to meet the growing demands and also in view of acute shortfall in power received from various sources, APEN in its ‘Vision Document 2021’, listed the 20 identified power potentials of the state as under: Dikhu HEP 186 MW, Lower-Tizu HEP 42 MW, Yangnyu HEP 40 MW, Lower-Doyang SHP 24 MW, Tizu-Valley SHP 24 MW, Doyang Stage-Ill SHP 24 MW, Zungki SHP 24 MW, etc. The vision document suggested that the financial institutions fund projects that are taken up only by private developers, companies and corporations or under joint ventures. Further APEN said that the state power sector must be prepared by building adequate capacities of all the three sectors – generation, transmission and distribution. It is hoped that the Vision Document 2021 will be implemented with urgency and utmost efficiency so as to provide power to propel Nagaland to progress and prosperity.