Nepal ministry of Energy is planning to finalise a number of deals on electricity trading with India during its Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's proposed visit to New Delhi from April 6-8, according to a report by kathmandupost on Monday.
The ministry is currently finalising agendas for discussion between PM Oli and his Indian counterpart. The list of agendas would soon be forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Among a wide range of issues that would be proposed by the Energy Ministry, securing the Indian market for surplus electricity that Nepal is likely to generate during the wet season tops the list.
Nepal will have surplus electricity during the wet season once the 456MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project comes online by the end of this year.
The ministry is planning to sell surplus electricity in India for cash. But it is also planning to float the option of "power banking", if "determining the price of electricity becomes an issue".
Power banking, according to the Energy Ministry, refers to exchange of electricity for electricity instead of cash.
It is a mechanism under which one country exports electricity to the other when there is surplus energy and imports back the same quantum of energy when there is a deficit.
If the southern neighbour agrees to the power swap arrangement, Nepal can export surplus electricity to India during the wet season and import back the same volume of power during the dry season when there is shortage of energy.
Nepal to propose power swap deal with India
FE Team | Published: April 02, 2018 23:48:42
Nepal to propose power swap deal with India
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