Before I came to Nepal, I was aware of “rolling blackouts” that affected all of Nepal. I had read a bit about it and was warned about its existence by others who had traveled here. I had no idea how this would affect my daily life. Initially, I have to admit, it took a bit to get used to. Now it seems just a part of everyday life.
The times with and without power vary on a daily basis, and can be somewhat sporadic, as well. Fortunately, the Guesthouse has at least one battery-powered light in each room, as well as one “super-charger station” on the second floor that is always available for charging electronics, no matter the state of load shedding. Other hotels or buildings either have a generator, battery-powered electricity, solar-powered energy, or revert to the tried-and-true method of lighting a candle to generate light at night.
Nepal has been divided into many different districts, each of which has its own schedule for load shedding. If you want to see the schedule, you can go here: http://www.nea.org.np/loadshedding.html. I’m sure it’s informative. Only problem is that it is written in Nepali and I have no idea what it says…
Rolling blackouts, also known as load shedding, is quite common in many developing countries. It occurs when the power demand exceeds the power supply available in a country. This is usually due to underfunded generation capacity, poorly managed infrastructure, or, in the case of Nepal, both. For Nepal, load shedding begins in October or November, after monsoon season, and continues until the beginning of the next monsoon season (June or July). Amount of energy is directly correlated to the amount of water flowing from the Himalayan springs, rivers, and dams. Whereas 20% of the world’s electricity is derived from hydropower, 96% of Nepal’s electricity is from hydropower; therefore, the amount of rain and level of water is incredibly important to determine the amount of energy available to the country. As of January 16, 2012, a new load shedding schedule was created for Nepal, which increased load shedding from 69 hours per week to 88 hours per week (average of 14 hours per day). This change was reportedly due to decreasing water levels in the rivers during winter time.
As I’m writing this entry, the power has gone on and off at least four times. It is currently on. The power is not scheduled to be on right now. It’s not scheduled to be on for another few hours. I’m a bit confused. But hey, that’s how things work here in Nepal. Just go with the flow…
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