Nepal has begun exporting 40 megawatts of electricity to Bihar through the Kataiya transmission line, following approval for a total export of 125 megawatts. Nepal will receive 8.72 rupees per unit of electricity sold
Kathmandu – For the first time, Nepal has started selling electricity to the Indian state of Bihar. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority, electricity export to Bihar has started from last Thursday. Kulman Ghising, Managing director of the authority, confirmed that the export of 40 MW electricity has started in Bihar.
“We have started exporting 40 megawatts from Kataiya-Kushhawa transmission line,” he said, “We have received approval to export 125 megawatts of electricity to Bihar. We will gradually increase the quantity.
According to the authority, the power export of 14.4 MW Modi, 14.453 MW Mayakhola and 11.64 MW Dudhkund projects has started. Ghising says that electricity from other approved projects will also be exported gradually. According to the interim agreement, the authority is exporting electricity to the state of Bihar through PTC, India.
On August 19, the Indian Embassy said that according to the bilateral agreement, Nepal has received approval to export 251 megawatts of electricity to the Indian states of Bihar and Haryana. The Central Electricity Authority under the Ministry of Electricity of India had approved the authority to export an additional 125.89 MW to the state of Haryana and 125 MW to Bihar as per the interim agreement.
Along with the mentioned three projects, 11.64 MW Dordi-1, 9.991 MW Down Piluwa, 10.67 MW Lower Khare, 11.64 MW Upper Khimti, 6.8 MW Upper Khimti-2, 14.6 MW Gandak, 19.21 MW Approval has been received to export 125 MW of electricity generated from the MW Upper Solu Hydropower Project to Bihar. Electricity will be exported through Kataiya, Raxaul and Ramnagar points, which are connected by transmission lines to Bihar. Ghising said that now electricity is exported from Kataiya transmission line.
The authority is selling an additional 125.89 MW of electricity generated from two hydropower projects to distribution companies in the state of Haryana. The authority is currently selling 109 MW of electricity to the state of Haryana. According to Chandan Kumar Ghosh, spokesperson of the Authority, since they have been selling electricity to Haryana for a long time, they will start the sale from tomorrow after getting the approval. “We have been selling electricity to Haryana since before,” he said. Therefore, despite getting the approval, there was a delay in selling the electricity.
The authority will sell the surplus monsoon power after internal consumption to Bihar and Haryana from June to October every year. Along with this, the amount of electricity to be sold to the state-level distribution companies of India according to the mid-term agreement has reached 360 MW. According to the authority, 941 megawatts of electricity will be sold 10 percent more after receiving approval for electricity export. According to the authority, about 800 MW of electricity is being exported every day. “According to the mid-term agreement, we cannot do it from below. In Bihar, 40 megawatts of electricity has just started to be sent, the rest will go slowly,” Ghosh said.
The selling rate of electricity to be sold till next October is Rs. 8.72 (5.45 INR) per unit. The per unit rate of 109 MW approved for sale to Haryana last year is Rs 8.40 (5.25 INR). In this, transmission line charges towards India, leakages, trading margin etc. will not be borne by the Authority.
The Authority has been exporting to India the electricity saved during the rainy season after consumption within the country. Real Time Market of India’s Energy Exchange (IEX) is selling to the state of Haryana at competitive rates in the day-ahead market and under medium-term power contracts. According to the competitive market and mid-term agreement, 941 megawatts of electricity produced by 28 projects will be sold in the Indian market.
In the first month of the current fiscal year BS 081/82, in July alone, electricity worth Rs. 4.19 billion has been exported to India. In July, the authority has exported the surplus electricity consumed in the country to India during the rainy season and earned an income of 4 billion 1939 million 24 thousand rupees. In July, electricity worth Rs. 131.1 million was exported daily. According to the authority, the average rate of electricity exported in July was 8 rupees 51 paise per unit.
The Authority imported 1.89 billion units of electricity from India in the last fiscal year, i.e. 16.93 billion rupees, due to the decrease in the flow of water in the rivers during the dry season and the production of electricity from the river-flowing hydropower plants in the country. But during this period, 1.95 billion units of electricity were exported to India and earned 17.6 billion rupees. In the last financial year, electricity was exported which was more than 13 million rupees more than imported.
Source : Kantipur Translated
