Nepal exports electricity worth Rs 110 million daily to India

kathmandu: Nepal has been selling electricity worth Rs 110 million on daily basis to India after the onset of the rainy season for this year.

Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai, information officer of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), said the country has been exporting 11,000 MWh (11 million units) of electricity to India daily. The exported electricity is produced by NEA operated 14 hydropower projects and a number of power projects operated by private sectors.

According to the NEA, it has been exporting the surplus electricity to its southern neighbor. Bhattarai said electricity is being sold in the range between INR 7-7.50 per unit (Rs 11 per unit) in the Indian market.

The country is now producing a total of 50,000 MWh of electricity via the NEA and its subsidiary companies and the private sector power developers. Of the total production, 49,000 MWh is being consumed in the domestic sectors while the remaining amount is exported to India. India two weeks ago has permitted Nepal to sell a total of 632 MW of electricity in the Indian market.

According to the NEA, the projects that have received approval for electricity export are Chilime (subsidiary of the NEA), Solu Khola, Kabeli B-1, Likhu-4, Lower Modi, Solu-Dudhkosi, Dordi Khola, Upper Kalanga Gad and Upper Chamelia.

Two weeks ago, the southern neighbor raised the electricity export by 180 MW from 452 MW earlier. Out of the added amount, 110 MW of electricity is produced from Solu Khola (Dudh Koshi) and Dordi Khola hydropower projects and uses Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border transmission line. Likewise, 70 MW produced by Upper Kalanga Gad and Chameliya hydropower projects is supplied through 132 KV Tanakpur-Mahendranagar transmission lines.

In the fiscal year 2021/22, the NEA exported 493 million units of electricity and earned an income equal to Rs 3.88 billion. Last year, the export increased to 1.34 billion units of electricity, while the earning was Rs 10.45 billion.