This might not be such a interesting topic for people outside my country, simply because this is not something that is affecting them or is of topic of their concern. However, the irony of the topic still may interest people.

My country NEPAL, as experts and scientists claim, is ranked 2nd in water resources and also has the largest hydro-electricity production capability. It is said that if we produce to our full potential we can produce so much electricity that each and every tree can have one bulb in each of the leaves and we can light them all up.

But the irony here is that in day for 16 hours we do not have electricity. This is about to increase to 18 hours next month and more afterwards.
The government official say the reason is that we do not have enough water in our dams but the thing here is we do not need a big dam because we have enough water falls here where plenty of mini dams can be built.

Another problem is that half of the population is illiterate and thus will go against any new idea because they will feel vulnerable. And there are plenty of politicians to make them feel insecure and abandon the ideas.

We three years before had a big revolt against the king and became republic. Then one of those groups which were named terrorist---Maoists, came to power. Again ironically, these people had killed thousands of people here but they were elected by the people. All know it was by illegal methods but no one can prove it. Even these people are in their way siege more political power and thus this is directly hampering the development process.

We are not in war right now but the suffering for innocent normal citizens is comparable.

As I said before, this might not be a topic of concern for u all, but still I would like to know your views and opinions about the topic, even solutions if u want to include.

Sorry to hear your country is having so much trouble and what you describe is typical of demand exceeding supply when development of the power system doesn't keep up with the growth in usage.

Hydro developments are very expensive if the whole project is considered like construction of dam(s), spillways, inlet/outlet control works, diversion tunnels, transmission system and of course the power station and generators. I'm assuming there is no manufacturer of hydro turbines/generators in your country so virtually all of that needs to be sourced from other countries. A typical single scheme with a new dam and say 2 medium size turbines would cost in the vicinity of 1 billion $US in today's market and the break-even time for hydro developments is around 50 years so private investors don't see it as an attractive investment - they want returns somewhat faster than that. Also, planning and construction needs to be approx 10 years ahead of projected demand growth to ensure continuity of supply.

The current worldwide financial downturn would make it difficult to finance such a project unless your government has the funds on hand already.

The best bang for the buck is currently gas turbines running on natural gas and they can be located virtually anywhere - all you need is a gas pipeline in and a transmission system to connect into.

And don't overlook the enlargement of the distribution system required to deliver the extra power which is also going to be expensive in terms of distribution transformers, substations, low voltage mains etc etc.

For your country's sake, I hope the current shortages are only due to enhancements currently in progress not being completed on time otherwise the wait for reliable supply will be a long one.

You guys need some decent leadership instead of a lacklustre king or a bunch of maoists.

If Nepal created hydroelectric dams, turbines etc Im sure you could not only solve your own power problems, you could also export electricity to India (who will require massive amounts of power soon). Your country could become very prosperous- but it will need a good leader