Nepal’s power export earnings rise despite flood damaging hydropower projects
Kathmandu, Oct 25 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Nepal earned NPR 5.93 billion from electricity exports to India in the third month of the current fiscal year 2026-27, with export earnings increasing compared with the same month last fiscal year, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said.
Nepal’s electricity export earnings rose despite the devastating floods of August 26, which forced some hydropower projects approved for electricity exports to suspend generation.
Nepal exported 633.99 million units of electricity to India during Aswin (mid-September to mid-October), the third month of the fiscal year that began in mid-July. Export revenue increased by NPR 962 million compared with the same month in fiscal year 2025-26, according to the NEA.
The country earned NPR 4.96 billion from electricity exports to India in Aswin last fiscal year.
Export revenue also increased by NPR 832.5 million compared with Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), when the NEA earned NPR 5.09 billion from electricity exports.
During the first three months of the current fiscal year, from mid-July to mid-October, Nepal recorded electricity export transactions worth NPR 16.15 billion, the NEA said.
The increase in export earnings came despite damage to several hydropower projects caused by the deadly floods, which affected plants used to export electricity to India and Bangladesh.
A total of 12 hydropower projects, including operational plants and those under construction, were damaged by the floods, according to the Nepal Development Update, a World Bank publication released earlier this month. Seven of the affected projects were operational, three of which had received approval to export electricity.
Nepal was unable to export electricity to Bangladesh for part of the third month of the current fiscal year because of damage to hydropower plants used to supply the neighbouring country.
The floods that struck the Trishuli River following a flash flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on August 26 damaged the Trishuli and Chilime hydropower plants, which had been authorised to supply electricity to Bangladesh. The damage also partially affected electricity exports to Haryana.
Under a tripartite agreement among Nepal, India and Bangladesh, Nepal can export up to 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh through India’s transmission infrastructure.
The NEA said Nepal resumed electricity exports to Bangladesh on Friday after India’s Central Electricity Authority authorised electricity generated by alternative hydropower plants for export.
Nepal sells electricity to India’s Haryana and Bihar states under bilateral power purchase agreements, while the remaining surplus is traded through the day-ahead and real-time markets of the Indian Energy Exchange, according to the NEA.
“Approximately two-thirds of the electricity exported to India in Asoj was sold under bilateral agreements, with the remainder traded through the energy exchange,” said Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, managing director of the NEA.
Nepal exports surplus electricity generated during the rainy season after meeting domestic demand. Under medium-term bilateral agreements, electricity is supplied to Haryana and Bihar from June through October.
Under the revised arrangement, electricity generated by three hydropower projects — Solu, Kabeli-1 and Lower Modi — has been approved for export to Bangladesh and Haryana, replacing supplies from the Trishuli, Devighat and Chilime plants.
“The resumption is expected to help Nepal manage its seasonal electricity surplus and expand cross-border power trade,” Shrestha said.
Meanwhile, India’s Central Electricity Authority has approved an additional 31 MW of electricity exports from Nepal, bringing the total approved export capacity to approximately 1,179 MW, the NEA said.
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