There is an increased risk of wasting large amounts of electricity produced during the rainy season. Such a danger has increased when the Indian government stopped the proposal made by Nepal for the export of more electricity.
The Nepal Electricity Authority had proposed to India to purchase electricity for a project with a capacity of 1,047 megawatts. Out of them, 452 megawatt projects have received export permission. 595 megawatt worth of projects in the list have been stopped by India without giving export permission. Apart from this, India has also stopped the proposal of exporting 442 MW of Upper Tamakoshi, 29 of Chamelia and 43 MW of Upper Bhotekoshi for a long time.
Ganesh Karki, Chairman of Independent Energy Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN), says that India has expressed many doubts about the domestic investment projects and is asking for investor-related details. According to him, the company’s details are being requested from India, but they have not given export permission. Karki said that due to this, the danger of wasting large amount of produced electricity has increased and the investment in energy is at risk.
He complains that even though he has informed the high-ranking officials of the Nepal government about the grief India has given him, no action has been taken. Last May, during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in New Delhi that he would buy 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in 10 years. As the installed capacity of hydropower projects in the country has already exceeded 2700 megawatts, there is a possibility that electricity will be produced at full capacity during the rainy season. However, it is not possible to export all the electricity that has not been consumed yet.
If India does not allow export, Nepal will have to waste a large amount of electricity during the rainy season.
Last year, up to 600 megawatts of electricity was wasted every day. As India did not buy electricity for all the proposed projects, the authority lost a large amount of financial benefits. The authority was seeking permission to export more electricity from India to prevent such a situation this year. However, India is blocking it.
Although the preliminary agreement on long-term electricity trade was signed during Prime Minister Dahal’s visit to India, no work has been done according to the agreement. Although it was said that the initial agreement will be approved by the Cabinet of India and taken to the implementation process, India has not shown any interest in it IPPAN President Karki says that diplomatic initiatives are necessary to take the preliminary agreement signed by the energy secretaries of the two countries to the implementation level.
Madhu Prasad Betuwal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, says that Nepal has completed preparations to fully advance the initial agreement. As the Indian decision was delayed, the preliminary agreement did not proceed. Betuwal says that after India’s decision on the matter, the Energy Secretary of the Government of Nepal has been given the right to sign an implementation agreement for full implementation.
Rajesh Aggarwal, President of Confederation of Nepalese Industries, says that India will purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity in 10 years. According to him, it is necessary to keep India in confidence and open more avenues for electricity export. He also emphasized on the need to open the PPA of hydropower projects and develop infrastructure in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Source : Abhiyan Daily
