India renews Nepal’s power export license for 283 MW

KATHMANDU: India has renewed Nepal’s permission to export 283 megawatts of electricity generated from eight hydropower projects.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had proposed the renewal to India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) under the Ministry of Power, which approved it on Wednesday.

NEA currently sells surplus electricity to India through the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) in the Day-Ahead and Real-Time markets at competitive rates, as well as through bilateral mid-term power trade agreements with Haryana and Bihar. Nepal also exports electricity to Bangladesh using India’s transmission infrastructure.

Of the eight projects, four with a combined capacity of 103 MW have received renewed approval to sell electricity via the IEX after their previous permits expired.

The renewal takes effect from Tuesday and will remain valid for one year.

Similarly, four other projects supplying around 180 MW to Haryana under a bilateral deal have received renewed permission as their current approval was set to expire on Thursday.

Starting Friday, electricity from these projects can also be traded continuously through the IEX.

During his visit to New Delhi to attend the 8th Assembly of the International Solar Alliance, Nepal’s Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Kulman Ghising, requested India’s Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to further simplify the approval process for electricity export.

He emphasized that Nepal is currently at its peak power production season, urging for timely approvals of pending export proposals.