Laxman Biyogi
KATHMANDU, India has approved to purchase up to 1,200 MW of electricity from Nepal amid the landlocked Himalayan country facing risk of an increasing surplus of its produced hydropower during rainy season, while India is undergoing pressure to switch to the green energy from its traditional coal-based power plants.
The South Asian giant has consented to Nepal’s proposal to purchase the aforementioned amount of electricity in the two-day bilateral energy talks that concluded on Saturday in Rajasthan, Mount Abu India. Citing an increasing production of hydropower inside the country, Nepal forwarded the proposal in the 10th Nepal-India Secretary (Joint Steering Committee - JSC) and Joint Secretary (Joint Working Group - JWG) meetings.
Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, informed Urja Khabar over India’s consent. According to him, the Indian side has agreed to import 800 MW of electricity via the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border transmission line during the rainy season.
As of now, India has permitted Nepal to sell only 452 MW of hydroelectricity produced from 10 different projects by using the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur cross-border transmission line during the rainy season. Although this transmission line can carry up to 1,000 MW, India is permitting Nepal to supply only a maximum of 600 MW using this mean. In the new development, the southern neighbor is now allowing an additional 200 MW by using this structure.
Similarly, the JSC meeting also approved permitting Nepal to sell additional electricity by using four 132 kV transmission lines connected to Bihar for the upcoming monsoon. Ghimire said, both the countries have agreed to construct two cross border lines connecting Inaruwa, Nepal-Purnea (New), India, and Dodhara (Nepal)-Bareilly (India). “In addition, India is committed to complete construction of its transmission lines on its land in Bihar in the stipulated time. India has also consented allowing Nepal to use these infrastructures to sell its produced energy to India,” he added.
The bilateral meeting has agreed to complete construction of Inaruwa-New Purnea transmission line by 2027/28, while construction of the infrastructure in Dodhara-Bareilly by 2028/29. Each of these two transmission lines will be built to supply up to 2,000 MW of electricity, according to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
As per the agreement, the cross-border supply of electricity via Bihar-based transmission lines will be overlooked by Central Electricity Authority of India in coordination with the NEA and the authorities concerned in Bihar. The initiative will be materialized as per the Guidelines for Import/Export (Cross-Border) of Electricity-2018.
The meeting also consented over carrying out cross-border energy trading via 132 Tanakpur-Mahendranagar transmission lines. The infrastructure will be used to trade 70 MW in April and June and another 80 MW in March and July. India has given green signal also on Nepal’s proposal to carry out the intergovernmental long term power purchase agreement.
Ghimire said India has also consented to facilitate export of 50 MW of electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh. According to him, Nepal will be selling electricity produced by the private sector's 52 MW Likhu-4 Hydropower Project.
