Export of electricity worth over Rs 7.5 billion in two months

KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 9: In the first two months of the fiscal year 2024/25, Nepal exported electricity worth Rs 7 billion 546 million 100 thousand to India. The Nepal Electricity Authority exported 1 billion 29 million 2 00 thousand units of electricity to India, which was generated in excess during the monsoon months of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August) and Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September).  In the former month, 492 million 861 thousand units of electricity worth Rs 3 billion 995 million 600 thousand were exported, while in the latter month, it was 536 million 294 thousand units of electricity amounting to Rs 3 billion 555 million 500 thousand.

. The average export rate of electricity over these two months was Rs 7.33 per unit. The average rate in Shrawan was Rs 8.11 per unit, while in Bhadra, it was Rs 6.62 per unit.

The highest export of electricity, worth Rs 995 million 500 thousand, occurred during the third week of Bhadra (16th-23rd). The lowest was during the second week of the same month (9th-15th), with an export worth Rs 690 million 800 thousand.

The Executive Director of the Authority, Kulman Ghising, stated that the export of electricity is currently being affected due to damage to operational hydropower plants and transmission lines caused by the recent floods and landslides. "We had set a target of exporting about NPR 30 billion worth of electricity this fiscal year, but the floods and landslides have damaged hydropower plants and transmission lines, causing a halt in electricity production and impacting our target," Ghising mentioned.

The Authority is selling surplus electricity generated in the country at competitive rates in the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) both in the day-ahead and real-time markets, according to bilateral medium-term electricity sales agreements in the Indian states of Haryana and Bihar.

So far, the Authority has received approval to sell 941 megawatts of electricity generated from 28 projects in the Indian market under competitive market and medium-term electricity sales agreements. Before the floods and landslides, about 900 megawatts of electricity were being exported daily. Currently, only about 150 megawatts are being exported daily. The largest operational plant, the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi, along with around 750 megawatts of electricity production, is currently shut down due to floods and landslides.

In the last fiscal year, electricity worth Rs 16 billion 930 million was imported from India, while electricity worth Rs 17 billion 6 million was exported during the same period. In the last fiscal year, Nepal became a net electricity exporter, exporting Rs 130 million more electricity than it imported.