Officials hope to keep power supply continuous in capital
KATHMANDU, Dec 24: Nepal has signed a fresh agreement to import an additional 80 MW of electricity with India.
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will import an additional 40 MW through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur Transmission Line from January 1 and the import can be increased to up to 160 MW from February to May, depending on the energy demand in Nepal and technical capacity of the transmission system.
This became possible after installation of another 100 MVA transformer at Mujaffarpur after failing to complete building a substation at Dhalkebar by the stated December-end deadline.
Currently, Nepal is importing 80 MW through this route. Total imports through different routes stands at about 300 MW.
NEA’s Spokesperson Prabal Adhikari hopes that the additional import, though lower than an earlier plan of importing 220 MW, will help keep power supply constant in the Kathmandu Valley while keeping power outage hours outside the capital negligible as well.
NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising signed an agreement with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN) CEO Arun Kumar Garga about importing 160 MW in total through the cross-border transmission line. NVVN is an entity authorized by India to trade electricity with Nepal.
All the conditions of the agreement will be valid until the end of May and are the same as previous ones with purchase price set at Rs 3.60 per unit.
The existing supply agreement of 80 MW expires on December 31. Adhikari also said NEA has other contingency plans for importing additional energy through Tanakpur, Kataiya Kushaha, and the Parwanipur Raxaul transmission line, both are under construction.
Kathmandu is likely to be receiving imported electricity from February directly through the Khimti-Dhalkebar Transmission Line after the laying of the remaining towers is completed in a couple of weeks time.
Source : Republica
