India is set to import additional 251 megawatts of electricity from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said in a statement on Monday.
“The designated authority in India for cross border trade approved the export of additional 251 megawatts of electricity from Nepal’s 12 hydropower projects,” reads the statement.
It takes the total approved export quantity of electricity to India to 941 megawatts from 28 hydropower projects.
Nepal has been selling 690 megawatts of electricity daily in the medium term, day-ahead and real-time markets in India, produced from 16 hydropower projects across the country.
Nepal became the net-exporter of electricity, three years after entering in the energy trade with India, in the last fiscal year.
Electricity exports exceeded imports by around Rs 122 million in the last fiscal year.
Read: Nepal's Electricity Transmission Network Expands to 6,577 Circuit Kilometres
Nepal exported around 1.94 billion units of electricity worth Rs 16.93 billion to India during the rainy season in the period while importing electricity worth Rs 16.81 billion from the southern neighbour during the dry season in the same period, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
Nepal was allowed to enter in the day-ahead market of the Indian Energy Exchange on May 1, 2021 for the import while it was given the go ahead to export electricity on November 3, 2021.
India has also made a provision for Indian buyers to count hydropower imports from Nepal as part of the Hydropower Purchase Obligation (HPO), according to the statement. It is expected to encourage buyers to import electricity from Nepal in the coming days.
Read: Indian Government Approves around Rs 91 Billion for Lower Arun Hydroelectric Project
The long-term energy trade agreement between the two countries has envisioned Nepal exporting up to 10,000 megawatts to India in the next 10 years. This is the first year of the agreement.
Beside the southern neighbour, Nepal also plans to sell 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh.
Earlier on July 28, the Nepal Electricity Authority, India's NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), and the Bangladesh Power Development Board were to sign a tripartite agreement for the sale of 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh at 6.4 US cents per unit during the rainy season for the next five years.
But the signing of the agreement has been delayed by the political crisis in the country following violent student protests.
