KATHMANDU, JUNE 2
Nepal has started trade of surplus power in the Indian energy market at competitive rate.
The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) stated that altogether 37.7 MW power, including 24 MW produced from Trishuli hydropower and 15 MW from Devighat power house, has been traded in the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) since midnight.
The NEA has exported the power through 400kV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border transmission line.
According to Suresh Bhattarai, spokesperson for the NEA, the authority has been able to trade the surplus power to the Indian market as the production of the domestic power houses have increased significantly due to early monsoon.
"We had exported 39 MW surplus power but due to some wastage, we managed to sell 37.5 MW to the Indian market," Bhattarai told The Himalayan Times, adding the power had been sold at an average price of INR 6.28 per unit.
This is the second time that Nepal has sold surplus power to India. NEA had traded 39 MW power generated from the same hydropower projects, 24 MW from Trishuli hydropower and 15 MW from Devighat powerhouse, in the IEX in November.
During the recent visit of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India, Nepal had received approval from the Indian side to export up to 364 MW of electricity to the Indian energy market. The IEX under India's Power Ministry had granted NEA permission to supply additional 326 MW to be traded in the Indian power exchange market.
The permission for additional power supply to India includes 140 MW from NEA-owned Kaligandaki A, 68 MW from Madhyamsryandi, 67 MW from Marsyangdi, and 51 MW from private sector Green Ventures Ltd's 52.4 MW Likhu-4.
Earlier, NEA had issued the notice for tenders from Indian companies to trade 200 MW during monsoon from July 1 to November 29 at competitive rate.
Currently, the power plants in India have failed to generate sufficient electricity due to the escalating Russia-Ukraine tension that has resulted in the prices of petroleum products and coal to soar. As a result, NEA - which had been importing 12,000 MWh from India daily to fulfil the domestic demand in the dry season - had to interrupt power supply to the industries.
NEA was even compelled to purchase power at eye-watering Rs 38 per unit, including tax, to ease the domestic power crisis owing to surge in power prices at the IEX.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 03, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
