Sephu solar power plant to be completed by March this year

Sephu solar power plant to be completed by March this year

Construction of the 17.38 Megawatt peak (MWp) utility solar power plant at Sephu in Wangduephodrang will be completed by March this year. With support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project was undertaken at a cost of Nu 1.5 Billion (B) by the Department of Energy (DoE) under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MoENR).

Once complete, with an additional capacity of 5 MWp, the plant is projected to generate about 31 million units of energy annually. Augmentation of the additional 5 MW will be completed by September this year, according to officials from DoE.

Meanwhile, the Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) has conducted a feasibility study of 120MWp utility solar power plant at Jamjee, where construction is expected to commence within 2025.

As per the preliminary studies conducted by DoE in 2024, there are about 40 solar project sites, which were narrowed down to 14 most feasible sites with installed capacity ranging from 4 megawatt to 47 MW.

To achieve the national goal of generating an additional 20,000 MW of power by 2040, 15,000 MW will be harnessed through hydropower while 5,000 MW will be generated through solar power.

The department highlighted that DGPC will spearhead the development of hydropower and solar power.

According to the official, one key area of intervention made by the Royal Government is in allowing private sector participation in hydropower (maximum 49% ownership) and solar power projects.

“Private investors can either join as partners with DGPC or Independent Power Producer in solar energy generation due to which private developers have shown keen interest to take up solar projects,” said the official from DoE.

During the third day of Bhutan Innovation Forum (BIF) last year, the Managing Director (MD) of DGPC, Dasho Chhewang Rinzin said Bhutan has reached the crossroads in terms of hydropower and that the country is setting up the way forward as it looks ahead at the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC).

He said that it has brought new thinking as to how to manage energy resources and ensure that Bhutan has energy security for perpetuity. Underlining that Bhutan “has been very lucky” in ensuring that generation capacity met demand, Dasho spoke about the changes that have come with time; the dependency on the monsoons for Bhutan’s electricity generation and the current situation.

“Today it’s raining, so we are generating full electricity from all our power plants. But tomorrow, day after tomorrow, as the winter comes on, our rivers will dry up, get smaller and smaller, and we will generate only 1/4 to 1/5 of the installed capacity of the hydropower plants that we have,” Dasho said.

He further added that in the winter months, Bhutan generates only about 450 MW of energy, while the demand has grown 100 times in the last two years, “from 450 MW in 2023 to 900 MW in 2024.” He said the demand would reach 1100 MW next year, about 1600 MW by 2034 and touch about 4000 MW by 2040. “To produce 4000 MW, we have to have an installed capacity of anywhere between 20,000 to 25,000 MW,” he said.

Dasho mentioned that over the next 15 years, Bhutan would invest in about 15,000 MW of hydropower and in about 5,000 to 6000 MW of solar power. “Total addition that we have to do over the next 15 years is about 20,000 MW, topping up onto the 2500MW that we have in operation just now, and about 3000 MW which are under construction at the present moment for this.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry is currently formulating a National Energy Policy which will provide directions towards achieving long-term energy security. The Ministry is also framing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for allotment of solar projects to the private developers.

By Sherab Dorji from Thimphu