NEA stops electricity exports for this season and starts imports due to receded water levels in rivers

Kathmandu; Nepal’s export of electricity to India has come to a halt for this season after the water level receded in rivers during a peaked winter season.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), production has dropped due to the dry season. As a result, the NEA has started importing energy with a surge in domestic demand triggered by a notable fall in temperature.

Currently, the country’s demand for electricity stands at Rs 1,512 MW. Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai, spokesperson for the NEA, said domestic demand has surged recently.

Initially, the NEA exported 39 MW of electricity, which later on increased up to 419 MW. On an average, the authority sold electricity at the rate of Rs 8.25 per unit.

The NEA earned revenue of Rs 11 billion by exporting electricity in the past six months. The authority had started selling the excess monsoon electricity consumed within the country through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IEX) from June 2. The energy export lasted until mid-December.

Meanwhile, the NEA has started importing 3,000 MWh of electricity on a daily basis. According to Bhattarai, the import is made mainly between 3 am to 11 am when Upper Tamakoshi and Kaligandaki ‘A’ hydropower projects stop their production daily.

The NEA has been supplying 7,874 MWh of electricity from its own hydropower plants while its subsidiaries produce 4,443 MWh. Similarly, the private sectors run power projects that produce 12,740 MW.   

In the first three months of the current fiscal year, the NEA earned profits of Rs 8.50 billion. The export earnings had major shares in the NEA’s financial gains.