KATHMANDU: The electricity market, which will be more volatile during the rainy season this year, has become disorganized since India refused to approve the 10 projects that Nepal sent to export electricity. Prior to the energy conference in February of last year, India sent 10 projects for sale in the Indian electricity market.
The capacity of Nepali projects in Barkha will be able to export up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity this year after internal consumption. According to the authority, electricity in the same amount will be lost during rainy seasons if India does not grant more permission.
As of right now, the Authority has approved the export of 451.7 MW of electricity from 10 projects. Prabal Adhikari, director of the authority’s electricity trading division, claims that the authority has submitted a proposal for the sale of an additional 681.11 megawatts of electricity on the Indian Energy Market (IX).
The authority sent several projects after sealing the transmission line leaks, including the 29 MW Chamelia, the 43 MW Upper Bhotekoshi, the 442 MW Upper Tamakoshi, the 23 MW Likhu A, the 40 MW Mistrikhola, the 9 MW Lower Modi-1, the 34 MW Maikhola, the 14 MW Hewakhola A, the 21 MW Lower Hewa, and the 34 MW Upper Balefi A.
Nepal suggested selling electricity for these projects at the energy secretary-level meeting between Nepal and India that was held in the first week of February. The Indian market will receive an additional 681.11 MW of electricity if these 10 projects are approved.
Upper Tamakoshi and Upper Bhotekoshi are two projects for which India has unannounced proposals. Despite earlier attempts that were made repeatedly, India has not agreed to accept control of Upper Tamakoshi, a significant project of the authority.
In cases where investments are made in production and transmission projects during international electricity trade, India’s policy is not to purchase electricity from third parties.
This policy has prevented Nepal from successfully selling electricity from the Upper Tamakoshi, Upper Bhotekoshi, and Marsyangdi despite repeated attempts.
In its International Electricity Trade Guidelines, India declared that it “will not buy electricity from projects built by direct or indirect participation of countries that have land borders with India but have not signed a Power Sector Agreement with India.”. The plan for the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi project, according to the authority, has been stagnant for no apparent reason.
Of the 10 projects that India has approved, 452 can sell electricity in the Indian market. 1134 MW of electricity will be sold this monsoon in India if an additional 682 MW is permitted. In order to meet domestic consumption during the rainy season this year, the authority’s executive director, Kulman Ghising, estimates that 1,000 to 1,200 megawatts of electricity must be exported. India has also not reacted to Nepal’s proposal to test the waters by exporting 50 MW of electricity to Bangladesh.
While initially possessing at least 50 MW of electricity, Nepal has been asking India for authorization to sell it to Bangladesh. Bangladesh will purchase 50 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the first phase, it was decided at the energy secretary-level meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh in the second week of last August.
It was decided during the meeting that electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh must travel along an Indian transmission line, for which Bangladesh and Nepal will both ask India for permission. Nepal has been requesting permission from India to use its equipment and land to sell electricity to Bangladesh ever since that meeting.
India requested the project name to bring electricity to Hal at the 10th meeting between Nepal and India’s energy secretaries rather than permission. India has assured Bangladesh that a proposal to export electricity that includes specific projects can be approved.
Following that, Nepal proposed to India that Bangladesh receive electricity from the Likhu 4 project. However, the authority claimed that India had not responded to the proposal that Nepal had sent. After internal consumption in the wet season, the authority has been selling any excess electricity to the Indian market. The day-ahead market is where Nepal sells electricity.
A proposal for extension of the approved project was sent
To extend the deadline for 8 projects that were given permission to sell electricity in the Indian market about a year ago, the authority has sent a proposal to India. Out of the permission granted, 4 projects expire on 080 Baisakh 17 and 4 projects expire on May 17.
The Upper Solu Hydropower Company’s 22.8 MW Solukhola project, the Authority’s 23.3 MW Trishuli hydropower project, the Chilime Hydropower Company’s 21.4 MW project, the 23.2 MW Devighat project, and the Authority’s 23.3 MW Trishuli project are all set to expire on May 17. On May 17, the Green Venture Pvt Ltd-built 67 MW Marsyangdi, 140 MW Kaligandaki A, 68 MW Madhya Marsyangdi, and 51 MW Likhu 4 projects will no longer be operational. These eight projects total 408.07 MW.
India has already approved the 24 point 25 MW Kabeli B-1 and the 19 point 4 MW Lower Modi projects, so the electricity from these projects can only be exported during the upcoming winter. The deadline is still not met, according to the chief representative of the Electricity Trade Department. According to the authority, the proposal for the extension of eight projects was sent on Chait 1.
There is no need to be concerned, he emphasized, as the start of the rainy season and the permitted deadline are still in the future. “We have sent a proposal to India for the approval of 10 new projects and extension of the existing 8 projects,” he said.
On December 3 of the current fiscal year, the Authority had exported 1 billion 586 million 34 thousand units of electricity from the licensed projects to India. In IX, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each, and electricity is traded at a price determined by the market that is competitive. Consequently, each block has a different price.
In accordance with the authority, the average price of electricity exported by the authority up until January 3 was eight rupees and 22 pence per unit. The authority earned 8.32 billion rupees and exported 1.5 billion 86.34 thousand units of electricity as of January 3, 2007/80.
The authority sold electricity for 1.4 billion in July, 1.98 billion in August, 2.25 billion in October, 1.52 billion in October, 1.32 billion in November, and 21 billion in January. 1 million 78 thousand 848 gigawatt hours of electricity have been exported to India in the last seven months. After its production ceased in accordance with domestic demand, the Authority stopped exporting electricity starting in the first week of January.