Nepal to export additional 251 MW of power to India

Nepal is set to export an additional 251 MW of power to India sourced from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, following the approval by India's designated authority for cross-border trade. Following the approval, Nepal for the first time would be exporting power to Bihar through a medium-term power sales agreement, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu announced in a release.

"This takes the total allowed quantum from 690 MW from 16 projects to 941 MW from 28 projects. Even before this 251 MW approval, Nepal had already become a net exporter of electricity and net revenue generator in the last fiscal year selling NPR 16.93 billion worth of electricity," the release stated. Earlier in October 2021, India had approved 39 MW of power exports from Nepal to India for the first time. In less than 3 years, this figure has grown by more than 24 times.

Initially, Nepal began its power exports by selling in the Day Ahead Market of the Indian Energy Exchange. Since then, India has also granted access to the Real-Time Market. Nepal Electricity Authority has also entered into medium-term power sales agreements with discounts in Haryana and Bihar. India has also opened the provision of counting hydropower imports from Nepal as a part of the Hydropower Purchase Obligation (HPO) for buyers in India, which further incentivizes buyers to purchase power from Nepal.

The agreement for long-term power between India and Nepal envisages the sale of up to 10,000 MW of power from Nepal to India in the next 10 years. This is the first year of the Agreement and around 1000 MW exports have already been reached. With these developments, Nepal is on track to become the leading hydropower exporter of the South Asia region. An agreement for the sale of 40 MW of power to Bangladesh has also been finalized and was planned to be signed on July 28, but got postponed due to recent political developments in Bangladesh.