Electricity export worth Rs 16 billion 93 crore in one year

The Authority is selling the surplus electricity consumed within the country to the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyar Nigam (NVVN) at a competitive rate in the day-ahead and real-time market of the Indian Energy Exchange (IX) and according to the medium-term electricity agreement.

NVVN is selling the electricity in the state of Haryana. The average rate of exported electricity is 8 rupees 72 paise per unit. Last year, the authority imported electricity worth 16.81 billion 3 lakh rupees.

dry season Last year, 1.83 billion 3.5 million units of electricity were imported from India to meet the demand as the flow of water in the rivers and streams decreased and the production of electricity from the river-flowing hydropower plants within the country decreased. The average rate of imported electricity in winter is 9 rupees 17 paise per unit.

In the last fiscal year, electricity has been exported more than 122.23 million rupees more than imported . Likewise, on the basis of energy, 100.91 million units of electricity were exported more than imported. Kulman Ghising, executive director of the authority, said that Nepal has become an exporter of electricity within three years of entering the Indian competitive market because the amount exported is more than imported.

In the financial year 2079/80, electricity worth 19 billion 444 million rupees was imported from India, and 10 billion 455 million rupees was exported. In the next few years, electricity will have to be imported to manage the domestic demand for a few winter months. Ghising said that now the quantity of export will increase.

'Until 6/7 years ago, we were only importers of electricity, although we started exporting electricity to the Indian competitive market 3 years ago, we became importers ourselves, with imports exceeding exports, From the last financial year, the situation has changed from being a net importer to an exporter, although there is a small amount of net exporters, this is an important achievement, a milestone for the energy sector, said Executive Director Ghisingh . Ghising said that due to the availability of enough electricity, the use of electric vehicles and induction stoves in the country has contributed to reducing the trade deficit between Nepal and India, while the import of petroleum products has decreased and the volume of electricity exports has increased. He said that there is a positive impact on the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Nepal entered the Day Ahead Market of India's Energy Exchange on May 1, 2021. Nepal, which initially received permission to import electricity, was also admitted as an exporter on November 3, 2021. Currently, Nepal is selling about 700 MW of electricity to India in the medium term, day ahead and real time markets. The authority has received permission to export 690 megawatts of electricity produced by 16 projects.

Executive Director Ghising mentioned that according to the mid-term agreement, an additional 400 megawatts of electricity is in the process of being approved for export . "We are in the process of receiving permission from the relevant bodies of India to export 400 MW of electricity to Haryana and Bihar states. We will also soon make an agreement with Bangladesh to export 40 MW from this year," said Ghisingh.

He claimed that the electricity produced by private sector hydropower projects with the terms of 'take or sell' is not essentially wasted except when there is a problem in the transmission line.