In the fiscal year 2024/25, Nepal exported electricity worth NPR 17.45 billion. Of this, electricity worth NPR 17.19 billion was exported to India and NPR 266.98 million to Bangladesh. During the same period, electricity worth NPR 12.92 billion was imported from India.

Compared to the previous year, electricity export increased and import decreased in the last fiscal year, according to the Authority. In the fiscal year 2080/81 (2023/24), electricity worth NPR 17.06 billion was exported to India.

Electricity export to Bangladesh had not yet begun at that time. In the fiscal year 2023/24, Nepal had imported electricity worth NPR 16.92 billion from India. According to the authority’s data, in the last fiscal year, 2.34 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity were exported to India and 30.39 million kilowatt-hours to Bangladesh.

The Nepal Electricity Authority has been exporting surplus electricity - left after domestic consumption during the monsoon season - to India and Bangladesh. The electricity is being sold at competitive rates on India’s energy exchange (IEX) under the ‘Day-Ahead’ and ‘Real-Time Market’ mechanisms. Under a medium-term power agreement, the Authority also sells electricity to the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN). The electricity purchased from Nepal is being supplied by NVVN to the state of Haryana.

Electricity trade with India is conducted in Indian Rupees, whereas electricity export to Bangladesh is carried out in US Dollars. As water flow in rivers and streams increases, power production rises, which is why the Authority exports electricity during the monsoon season. However, when the winter season begins and the water flow in rivers and streams decreases, resulting in lower hydropower generation, electricity is imported from India during a few winter months to meet domestic demand.

Kulman Ghising, the then Managing Director of the Authority, had claimed that in the fiscal year 2023/24, Nepal became a net exporter of electricity by exporting electricity worth NPR 130 million more than it imported. However, domestic industrialists had criticized that Nepal became a net exporter by exporting electricity to India without fulfilling domestic demand. In the latest fiscal year, however, data shows that imports decreased further while exports increased.

The Government of India granted permission for the first time in October 2021 to import 39 megawatts of electricity from Nepal. So far, the Authority has received approval to sell up to 941 megawatts of electricity in the Indian market through the competitive market and under medium-term power purchase agreements.

Authority spokesperson Rajan Dhakal stated that around 700 to 800 megawatts of electricity is currently being exported. According to Dhakal, due to issues like leakage, damage to hydropower projects from floods and landslides, and limitations in transmission line capacity, electricity cannot be exported at full capacity. “Some projects are currently shut down,” he added.

“Due to murky water and other factors, full production has not been possible,” he said. “From the third week of Bhadra (late August), the water will clear, and production will reach full capacity. After that, up to 1,000 megawatts can be exported.” Spokesperson Dhakal also informed that a request has been made for approval to export hydropower projects equivalent to an additional 350 megawatts to India. “Among them, approval to export 200 megawatts is expected soon,” he added.

The Authority, under the tripartite agreement between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, resumed exporting 40 megawatts of electricity from 15 June. Previously, on 15 November 2024, electricity was exported for the first time - but only for 12 hours. Under the agreement, electricity is to be exported to Bangladesh every year from 15 June to 15 November.

A tripartite agreement was signed on October 3, 2024 between the Nepal Electricity Authority, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited India (NVVN). Previously, electricity trade was only conducted between Nepal and India. Nepal’s electricity reaches Bangladesh through the first international 400 kV transmission line from Dhalkebar (Nepal) to Muzaffarpur (India) and the 400 kV transmission line from Baharampur (India) to Bheramara (Bangladesh).

According to the Authority, 18.60 MW from Trishuli and 21.40 MW from Chilime hydropower projects - totaling 40 MW - have been approved for electricity export to Bangladesh. Both of these projects have also received approval for electricity export to India. The Authority has an agreement to receive 6.40 US cents per unit for electricity sold to Bangladesh.

Source: Kantipur