KATHMANDU, Dec 7: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started importing 70 MW of electricity daily from India. The NEA has started importing power from India after the domestic electricity could not meet the demand of peak hours due to declining production of Nepal's hydropower projects.
NEA Spokesperson Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai said that 60-70 MW of electricity is being imported daily during the peak hours. "As the water level in Nepal's rivers has receded, NEA has started importing electricity from India since Sunday," he said. "Export of electricity will probably be stopped from Wednesday."
NEA receives permission to import 15 MW more electricity
According to the NEA, there is a demand for 1,485 MW to 1500 MW during the peak hours. The NEA and the promoters of private sector hydropower projects are generating 1,500 MW of electricity daily. In the next few days, the production of NEA's subsidiary and private sector will be reduced from 1500 MW to around 950 MW.
NEA Spokesperson Bhattarai said that as per the energy exchange agreement with India, electricity is being exchanged. "If we operate the Kulekhani Hydropower Project now, we don't have to import power from India," he said. "Due to high demand for electricity in mid-winter, we have been saving water in Kulekhani for some time."
At present, the installed capacity of the national transmission line has reached 2,000 MW. NEA had imported electricity worth Rs 21.39 billion from India in the fiscal year 2020/21. A total of 2.81 billion units of electricity was generated from NEA's hydropower plants in FY 2020/21.
