India renews export approvals for four Nepali hydropower projects
India has renewed export approvals for four Nepali hydropower projects, allowing Nepal to sell a combined 98 MW of electricity to India.
The projects are the Upper Chameliya, Seti river, Upper Tadi Khola and Upper Dordi A hydropower projects.
The export approval for the 38.8 MW Upper Chameliya project had expired in June last, while those for the 24.25 MW Seti river and 10.7 MW Upper Tadi Khola projects expired on July 31. The approval for the 24.25 MW Upper Dordi A project expired in August.
The Nepal Electricity Authority said India informed it last week that the approvals had been renewed.
The delay had raised concerns that Nepal’s power exports could be disrupted during the peak wet-season export period. The NEA said that would no longer be an issue following the renewals.
Nepal exports surplus electricity to India and Bangladesh during the monsoon after meeting domestic demand. During the dry winter months, however, the country has to import electricity from India to meet domestic demand.
India’s Ministry of Power had already renewed Nepal’s permission to import up to 654 MW of electricity through the 400-kV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur and 132-kV Tanakpur-Mahendranagar transmission lines through January. It had not, however, renewed the export approvals for the Nepali projects.
Nepal is currently exporting an average of about 600 MW of electricity to India each day, according to the NEA.
Meanwhile, floods in the Bhotekoshi river have damaged the Trishuli and Chilime hydropower projects, both of which had approval to export electricity to India and Bangladesh. As a result, Nepal’s electricity exports to Bangladesh have been halted.
India has also yet to approve the sale in Bangladesh of electricity from the Kabeli B-1 and Solu Khola hydropower projects, which had received permission to sell electricity through the Indian Energy Exchange’s day-ahead and real-time markets at competitive rates.
The 14.55 MW Devighat hydropower project, which had approval to export electricity to India, was also damaged by the Bhotekoshi floods. The NEA has sought approval to sell electricity from the Lower Modi hydropower project in the bilateral market as a replacement. Lower Modi already has approval to sell electricity through the Indian Energy Exchange, but India has not approved its sale in the bilateral market. NEA officials say they have been checking with Indian authorities every day but have yet to receive approval.
Export approvals for projects authorised to sell electricity in India have to be renewed annually. India also has to extend its approval for Nepal to import electricity, leaving Nepal dependent on Indian policy for both buying and selling power.
At a time when Nepal would normally be exporting large volumes of electricity during the monsoon, generation has also stopped at 431.1 MW of hydropower projects because of flood-related damage, according to the NEA.
So far, India has authorised Nepal to export electricity generated by 37 hydropower projects with a combined capacity of about 1,200 MW.
