Nepalese king opens country's first private sector power plant

The Nepalese monarch flew by helicopter to Kirne, about 180 kilometres east of the capital, to formally open the project that will feed the country's power starved national grid.

The opening of the 60-megawatt power station by the king is seen by observers in Nepal as a move by the government to encourage direct foreign investment.

The project cost 140 million dollars with a large foreign investment from commercial and multilateral financing sources. The hydroelectric power station has been constructed and is run by the Himal Power company owned jointly by Norway's Statkraft (73 percent), Nepal's Butwal Power Company (15 percent), and others.

Nepal has hydro-eletric power potential of more than 83,000 megawatts but produces only 300 megawatts so far. Three more private sector small hydro-electric projects totalling 55 megawatts are nearing completion.

Foreign power companies have approached the Nepalese government with regard to the construction and operation of the 402-megawatt Arun III project in east Nepal and the massive 12,000-megawatt Karnali project in west Nepal.

(la/dpa)