Nepal is Set to Export Additional 251 MW of Power to India

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

"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 2021, India had permitted 39 MW of power exports from Nepal to India for the first time. Within than 3 years, this figure has grown by more than 24 times.

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

An settlement for the sale of 40 MW of power to Bangladesh has also been confirmed and was planned to be signed, but got postponed due to current political developments in Bangladesh. This is the first year of the Agreement and around 1000 MW exports have already been reached. With these developments, Nepal is to set track to become the leading hydro power exporter of the South Asia region.As the agreement is for long-term power between India and Nepal, it foresees the sale of up to 10,000 MW of power from Nepal to India in the next 10 years.