Nepal starts exporting electricity to India

Nepal has started exporting electricity to India from Saturday, as the generation of hydroelectricity from run-of-the-river projects increased with the onset of the monsoon in the Himalayan country.

Last year also, Nepal exported hydroelectricity to India from June to November.

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“We have started selling 600 MW hour electricity to India from Saturday as there is a surplus in the electricity in the country,” said Suresh Bhattarai, spokesperson of Nepal Electricity Authority.

Some time ago Nepal was importing up to 400 MW electricity from India to meet the domestic demand.

In Nepal the domestic demand for electricity increases in winter, while the supply decreases and in summer the demand decreases while the supply increases.

Most of the hydropower projects operating in Nepal are based on run-of-the-river. Last year, Nepal earned around Rs 12 billion from exporting electricity to India.

With the onset of monsoons, hydropower plants in Nepal have been producing excess electricity from the elevated water levels in the Himalayan rivers.