Bhutan’s annual revenue from hydropower generation is expected to cross a staggering Rs 14 B by the end of this year. After paying back the loans that were taken to build the hydropower projects, the economy will be left with net revenue of around Rs 10 B.
Total hydropower revenue increased by over half a billion compared to the previous year.
Officials from Druk Green Power Corporation said, increase in generation and revenue this year was because the country received more rainfall.
“I think this year, our generation is good, it is expected to be around 7,397 million units, which is higher by about 250 million units, compared to last year,” said DGPC’s Director of Finance, Ugyen Namgyel. “Last year, we achieved only 7,147 million units. The revenue increase is mainly dependent on generation and this year due to improved generation, we are expecting total revenue to be over Rs 14B.”
Ugyen Namgyel also said, with revenue purely dependent on generation, it was important to ensure there are no major power plant breakdowns throughout the year.
“We have to ensure that our plants are fully available for generation during the summer months. We have benchmarked ourselves at the international level. So our achievement in terms of ensuring power plant availability is more than 99 percent.
Ugyen Namgyel said during the winter months, they have to ensure whatever water available is made use of. “So given proper usage of water and ensuring power plant availability, we have been able to increase our revenue.”
Of the total hydropower earning, Bhutan pays Rs 3.2B annually to service the loans for hydropower projects. By the end of this month, loans for the 60-megawatt Kurichhu hydropower plant will be paid off.
Starting 2016, Bhutan’s loan obligation will be reduced from the initial Rs 3.2B to Rs 2.8B. This will also reduce rupee outflow to the same extent.
