Kathmandu — India has renewed approval for the export of 96.50 MW of electricity from four hydropower projects in Nepal. The projects whose export approvals have been renewed are the Upper Chameliya, Seti River, Upper Tadikhola, and Upper Dordi ‘A’ hydropower projects.
The export approval for 38.8 MW from the Upper Chameliya Hydropower Project was the last to expire. The approvals for 24.25 MW from the Seti River Project and 10.70 MW from the Upper Tadikhola Project expired on July 31, while the approval for 24.25 MW from the Upper Dordi ‘A’ Project expired in August. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said India informed it last week that the approvals had been renewed. Although failure to renew the approvals during the export season could have affected electricity exports, the NEA said this issue has now been resolved.
Nepal has been exporting surplus electricity to India and Bangladesh during the monsoon season after meeting domestic demand. During the winter, however, Nepal has to import electricity from India to meet domestic demand.
Although India’s Ministry of Power had renewed Nepal’s approval to import up to 654 MW of electricity from the 400 kV Dhalkebar–Muzaffarpur and 132 kV Tanakpur–Mahendranagar transmission lines through mid-January, it had not renewed the approvals for electricity exports. The NEA said Nepal is currently exporting an average of 600 MW of electricity per day to India.
Meanwhile, the Trishuli and Chilime hydropower projects, which had received approval to export electricity to both India and Bangladesh, have suffered damage from the floods in the Bhotekoshi River. As a result, electricity exports to Bangladesh have been halted. India has also not approved the sale in Bangladesh of electricity generated by the Kabeli ‘B’ 1 and Solu Khola hydropower projects, which had received approval to sell electricity in India at competitive rates through the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) Day-Ahead Market (DAM) and Real-Time Market (RTM).
Electricity generated by the Devighat Hydropower Project had also been approved for export to India. The project has likewise been affected by the Bhotekoshi floods. In place of Devighat, the NEA has sought approval to sell electricity generated by the Lower Modi Hydropower Project, which has already received approval to participate in the IEX market, in the bilateral market. However, India has not yet granted the approval. The NEA said it has been following up with Indian authorities on the approval every day, but has yet to receive it.
Projects that have received approval to export electricity to India must have their approvals renewed every year. Even for electricity imports, India must extend the approval period. As a result, Nepal remains dependent on Indian policy for both buying and selling electricity.
At a time when Nepal should be selling electricity during the monsoon season, electricity generation from projects with a combined capacity of 431.1 MW—some damaged by the Bhotekoshi floods and some not—has been halted. So far, Nepal has received approval to export electricity generated by 37 hydropower projects, totaling 1,200 MW, to India and Bangladesh.
Kantipur