Areas of utilization of electrical energy in Nepal

Electrical energy in Nepal is used mainly in the domestic, industrial and commercial sectors, with smaller shares in irrigation, water supply, street lighting and transport. Since nearly all power comes from hydropower, increasing its use replaces imported petroleum and LPG.

Present areas of utilization

1. Domestic: lighting, fans, TV, refrigerators, rice cookers, water heaters, increasingly induction cooking. Largest number of consumers (over 90 % of all connections) and a large share of energy; causes the evening peak.
2. Industrial: cement, steel rolling, textiles, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, paper. Mostly motor loads; supplied at 400 V to 132 kV. Second largest (roughly comparable) energy share.
3. Commercial: hotels, shopping centres, hospitals, banks, offices, telecom towers, IT companies.
4. Agriculture/irrigation: electric pumps (shallow and deep tubewells, especially in the Terai), mills.
5. Water supply: drinking water pumping and treatment in towns and cities.
6. Street lighting: municipal lighting in cities and highways.
7. Transport: electric vehicles and charging stations (rapidly growing), cable cars, earlier the Kathmandu trolley bus.
8. Others: temples, community and government institutions.

How to increase or improve consumption

Domestic

• Promote electric cooking (induction stoves) to replace LPG through lower tariff blocks, subsidies and awareness.
• Promote electric water heating and space heating with heat pumps.
• Reliable 24-hour supply and stronger distribution transformers in villages.

Industrial

• Concessional tariffs for energy-intensive industries during the wet (surplus) season.
• Dedicated industrial feeders and substations, reliable supply to SEZs and industrial estates.
• Replace diesel boilers and furnaces with electric boilers, induction and arc furnaces.

Transport

• Expand EV use (tax incentives already exist), public charging stations, electric buses for public transport, electric railway and trolley buses.

Agriculture

• Grid-connected irrigation pumps replacing diesel pumps, cold storage and agro-processing in rural areas.

Commercial

• Electric cooking and heating in hotels and restaurants, data centres, green buildings.

Improving quality of use (efficiency)

• Reduce technical and non-technical losses in transmission and distribution.
• Efficient equipment: LED lamps, high-efficiency motors, VFDs, power-factor correction.
• Demand side management and time-of-day tariffs to flatten the evening peak and use off-peak energy.
• Smart meters for monitoring.

 Surplus wet-season hydro
        |
   +----+-----+---------+----------+
 cooking   industry   EV/transport  export
 (replace  (replace   (replace      (revenue)
  LPG)      diesel)    petrol)

Increasing consumption within the country in these productive ways raises per-capita consumption, reduces the trade deficit and supports economic development.