Bijaya Man Sherchan

Although Nepal is known to be rich in hydropower potential, the country has adopted policies whereby transportation is almost totally based on imported petroleum based fossil fuels. The nation is paying heavily in foreign currency for import of the petroleum products with an average 165,200 kilo liter monthly demand of petroleum products in the country. And this consumption is increasing every year. As per statistics availed by Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) , Nepal imported in the FY 2074/75 from India 1,611,883 Kilo Liters of various types of petroleum fuels (including petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation turbine fuel) and 370,560 MT on LPG at a total cost of IC Rs 90.423 billion.

The use of petroleum as the fuel for transport is not only a heavy burden on the national exchequer but its use results in many harmful effects. The transport sector is the primary reason for atmospheric pollution as petroleum fumes cause harmful emissions such as CO2, SO2 and suspended particulate matters that are detrimental to health. The use of petroleum based transportation results in increased economic costs. In addition the increasing use of petroleum products results in decreasing air quality resulting in increasing health related cost, decreased productivity for the economical active population and rising inflations due to rise of international oil prices. In this context both our neighbors India and China have declared that by 1930 they would have scrapped all ICE vehicles from operation on the roads.

Given the above scenario it is high time to debate on the relevance of rapid increase of clean electrical based transport in Nepal and a brief look into the development of this mode of transportation is relevant.

THE HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The first effort in using electricity based transport in Nepal was in 1960 when USAID assisted in implementation of a 43 km long bi-cable goods ropeway between Hetauda and Kathmandu. This ropeway with capacity of 22.5 ton per hour performed well during the initial years when the Tribhuwan Rajpath was the only road link between Kathmandu and the Terai. With development of other better roads from the plains to Kathmandu the relevance of ropeway transport diminished and as the system was under the management of a poorly-managed government owned corporation (National Transportation Corporation) the system soon became defunct.

The second important event in the development of electricity based transportation was the implementation of the trolley bus system between Kathmandu and Suryavinayak in Bhaktapur. The construction of the 13 kilometer long trolley bus system was undertaken under a grant aid of the Chinese Government and was completed in 2 years (1975 – 1977) with an investment of Rs. 40 million. The trolley bus system with 15 stations was a very popular means of transport and ferried between 10,000 – 11,000 commuters daily initially and the volume increased to 20,000 per day. Initially 22 trolley buses were in operation and in 1997 10 more buses with bigger passenger carrying capacity were added to the fleet. The system operated 16 hours a day and had a very low passenger fare of Rs. 3 – 4 depending on the travel distance. The hey days of the trolley bus system started to decline with the advent of democracy in the country. The culture of “Bandhs” and “Chakka Jam” and “tod fod” seriously effected the operation of the trolley buses. The politically affiliated ministers started using the trolley bus unit as an employment centre for their political cadre. The system of subcontracting of passenger fare collection to the drivers (Rs. 425 per trip for smaller and Rs. 475 for the bigger buses) resulted in a situation where the drivers became rich and NTC poorer by the day. The over staffing and low productivity led to a fast deterioration in the financial viability of the enterprise. Lack of funds led to deterioration of maintenance, depletion of spare parts stocks and finally scavenging of the buses whereby parts of the operating buses were used as spare parts. The system soon collapsed and in December 2001, HMG by a cabinet decision, decided to close down the trolley bus system after 27 years of eventful operation. Subsequent efforts of the Government to restart the trolley bus system under the management of the Municipality of Kathmandu, Thimi and Bhaktapur failed as there was lack of commitment to the cause and lack of effective management.

The year 1993 will be remembered in history of development of electricity based transportation as one of the important landmarks. Under USAID funding an American INGO called Global Resources Institute was mandated with the task of developing a proto-type 3 wheeler run by batteries. This proto-type was christened as the Safa Tempo. After six months of trial operation the 7 Safa Tempos were handed over to Nepal Electric Vehicle Industry (NEVI) a company formed by 28 Nepali professionals dedicated to the cause of environmental protection in Nepal. NEVI operated the demonstration fleet and together with a few other EV manufacturing companies started assembly of the Safa Tempos for commercial operation on various routes within Kathmandu.

A decade and half later Kathmandu has a fleet of 710 Safa Tempos running on 14 various routes and cater to 1.5 million commuters daily. 33 charging stations cater to the battery charging requirements of the Safa Tempos. While USAID quick started the development of the 3 wheeler Safa Tempo it was the DANIDA which further supported the development of the EV industry by creating a Clean Vehicle Fund to support research, development and promotion of the EV’s. Under this program DANIDA funds were made available and for training of drivers and technicians for the EV industry, for operating 4 battery charging station in Lalitpur for procurement of 48 EV’s by the private sector. Almost half of the drivers of the Safa Tempos are female drivers trained under the Danish program.

While the unusual strides made in Nepal in the EV industry may be a matter of appreciation within the world community the number of Safa Tempo has not risen beyond 710 due to many reasons. The difficulty for acquiring route permits by Safa Tempo and domination of existing route by the diesel mini/microbus syndicates have made the increment of EV’s virtually impossible.

With time the EV technology is also fast changing. Initially lead acid batteries were used in the Safa Tempos. These batteries provided a range of only 70 km per charge. As such to make the operation feasible Safa Tempos were operated with 2 sets of batteries – one under operation on the vehicle and one under charge in the charging station. But recent developments have brought Lithium ion batteries to the EV market. Use of these new batteries has increased the range of the EVs to over 130 km per charge. However the cost of these Lithium based batteries is very high as compared with lead acid batteries. The operation life of the Lithium batteries, however, is between 7-10 years as compared to 18-24 months life for lead acid batteries.

The Government has recently shown that it intends to promote wider use of EVs in the country,. In this context the government showed its commitment in this regards by issuing the “ Bidyutiya Sawari Sadhan Ayat Darta tatha sanchallan sambandhi Karyabidhi-2072 which helped to assist in the import registration and operation of all kinds of renewable energy driven vehicles.

The government recently has also decided to operate 300 electric buses around Kathmandu and its peripheries. In this context the Katmandu Metropolitan City handed over very recently a sum of Rs 3 billion to Sajha Yatayat for procurement of 300 electric buses and their operation. Prior to this GON imported 5 electric buses for operation within Lumbini. However for unknown reasons these buses are currently lying idle in Kathmandu.

Similarly private electric car operation is daily rising Over 700 small electric cars of various brands are currently running in Kathmandu. Likewise thousands of electric scooters are operating in the southern terai areas of this country.

THE WAY AHEAD

The good work done in the initial development in the EV sector should continue and GoN should adopt short-term and long-term measures in expanding the horizon of electricity based transport for the overall benefit of the national and its people.

The short-term measures that the government could adopt are the following:

a. Devise policies whereby clean transport based on electricity is given top priority and protected by providing incentive in excise duty and customs exemptions and reduced electricity tariff for night time charging of electric vehicles;
b. Adopt policies whereby the approximately 700 polluting LPG operated vehicles plying in Kathmandu are converted into battery run electric vehicles;
c. Adopt policies whereby vehicles over 20 years are given due incentives for converting into electric vehicles and operating for an additional period of 10 years;
d. Create zones in tourist destinations such as Chitwan , Lumbini and Pokhara and historically important places such as Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square are accessible only to electric vehicles;
e. Allot priority to electric vehicles while issuing route permits for passenger vehicles
f. Devise a off-peak electricity tariff so that electric vehicles can be charged with cheap electricity (Rs 4 per unit) during the off-peak hours of 9 pm till 6 am.

The above steps would yield results beneficial to all. In a study conducted by Clean Air Network Nepal it has been found that if 1,000 old gasoline vehicles were to be converted into electric vehicles, NEA would receive Rs. 25 million as additional income from sale of its night time spilled energy, a saving of Rs. 219 million would result due to saving in import of petroleum fuels and the individual operator would benefit Rs. 137,000 annually as savings in vehicle operation cost.

The long-term measures that the government should adopt are as follows:

a. Revive and operate trolley buses for transportation to the maximum extent possible. The defunct Kathmandu – Bhaktapur trolley bus should be reinstated once the widening of the Arniko Highway is completed. Extend trolley buses operation along the Kathmandu Ringroad, along the Bishnumati Corridor and operate radial trolley buses to Godavari, Kirtipur, Kalanki and Budanilkantha. Implement trolley buses in the Terai along feasible sectors such as Jogbani – Dharan, Birgunj – Pathlaiya, Sunauli – Butwal and Nepalgunj – Kohalpur;
b. Implement electric train services as mass transport system on feasible routes such as East West Highway, Fast Track Road Corridor, Kathmandu – Pokhara and Kathmandu – Khasa corridors;
c. Implement ropeway transport in hill areas which do not have road access;
d. Encourage the private sector by providing correct incentives for implementation of cable cars;
e. Support the creation of a research and development institute to promote the EV industry.

Given the proper importance, incentives and attention from all relevant quarters, Nepal could once again regain its Shangri-La status – this time as the Shangri-La of EV’s.

(Mr. B.M. Sherchan is the past Chairman of Nepal Electric Vehicle Industry (NEVI), past chairman of
Electric Vehicle Association of Nepal (EVAN), Chairman of NEVI Tradelink, current Chairman of Electric Vehicle Manufacturers’ & Importers’ Association-Nepal (EVMIAN) and an active advocate for implementing clean energy systems in Nepal. Mr Sherchan is a renowned hydro-power developer in Nepal Currently, Mr Sherchan is the Vice President of Rotary Club of Thamel).