Govt team leaves for China to study energy technology

A government team led by Supply Secretary Shreedhar Sapkota left for China on Sunday at the invitation of China Electronic Engineering Design Institute (CEEDI) to observe its technology on “converting fossil fuels into more efficient fuels”. According to the CEEDI website, it is an integrated service supplier of project consulting, engineering design, construction management and EPC contracting for domestic and overseas construction projects. Its website has not specifically mentioned about its plants that convert fossil fuels into more efficient fuels, but Supply Ministry Spokesperson Anandaram Regmi said the Nepali team will observe such plants in China. The company, however, is involved in wide range of works, including engineering design of energy projects, civil building construction, electricity generating engineering with waste heat, environment protection engineering  and engineering design of electronic government administration projects, according to its website. Regmi said the team will observe the plant and study whether a similar project would be feasible in Nepal. Supply Ministry Under Secretary Arjun Raj Pant, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Managing Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka, its manager Bijaya Raj Satyal, assistant manager Binaya Lohani and Industry Ministry’s Engineer Prabhat Kumar Singh are also in the team. NOC Spokesperson Mukunda Ghimire said besides observing the company’s plant, the team will also hold talks with Chinese officials on potential import of fuel from China. After NOC and PetroChina signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for importing fuel from China in October last year, there has not been much progress on this front. During Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s China visit in March, the two sides had agreed to conclude a commercial deal on the supply of petroleum products from China to Nepal. “We are still in email communication with the Chinese side,” said Ghimire. “But there have not been concrete efforts as the issue of pricing has snagged the negotiation.” Source: ekantipur