KATHMANDU, JUNE 12

A total of three hydropower plants in Lamjung district with total power generation capacity of 150 megawatts were shut down for 12 hours today for repair and maintenance purposes.

According to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), 70 MW Mid Marsyangdi, 50 MW Upper Marsyangdi and 30 MW Nyadi hydropower plants were shut down to instal new wires in the newly constructed towers of Madhya Marsyangdi-Marsyangdi 132 KV double circuit transmission line, which was damaged by the landslide on July 3 last year.

The landslide had destroyed a tower at Majhigaun, Rainas Municipality-8 of Lamjung under the Mid Marsyangdi-Marsyangdi transmission line. NEA had brought the transmission line into operation from August last year by connecting the emergency restoration system (ERS).

'With the completion of the construction of the new tower, the works of replacing the wires are being carried out by shutting down the three power plants today,' said NEA Spokesperson Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai. Meanwhile, energy was supplied to the affected areas through alternative lines.

However, the export of energy to India remained unaffected despite the shut down of the three plants, according to Bhattarai.

'We chose today to replace the lines as there is less demand for energy in India on Sundays. The shutdown of the three hydro plants has not affected exports to the southern neighbour,' he said.

Over 200 MW was exported to India today.

Earlier, the Central Electricity Authority under the Ministry of Electricity of India had approved NEA to sell 364 MW of surplus electricity in the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) market generated from six hydropower projects. A joint vision paper on energy cooperation was issued between Nepal and India during Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's visit to India in April, allowing Nepal to export electricity generated from four additional hydro power plants.

Of total electricity being sold in IEX market, 51 MW generated from Likhu-4, 68 MW from Madhyamarsyangdi, 67 MW from Marsyangdi, 140 MW from Kaligandaki A and 37.7 MW from Trishuli and Devighat are being exported daily.

As per NEA, the surplus energy is exported to the Indian market through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV interstate transmission line.

Earlier, NEA had issued a notice for tenders from Indian firms to trade 200 MW during monsoon from July 1 to November 29 at competitive rate.

With the rise in demand for power in the Indian market due to the escalating Russia-Ukraine tension that has resulted in the prices of petroleum products and coal to soar, the NEA will continue to export surplus energy to India.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 13, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.