During the power summit held in Kathmandu on Tuesday and Wednesday, Indian businesses agreed to acquire 2,200MW of energy from Nepal’s hydropower projects, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN).
At a time when Nepal’s total installed capacity of power projects is anticipated to reach 2,853MW by the end of the current fiscal year ending in mid-July this year, according to Nepal Electricity Authority, the country’s state-owned power utility body, this is the sizeable amount of electricity that is likely to be sold in India if deals materialize.
The IPPAN, the event’s organizer, said that India’s Vedanta Limited and Manikaran Power Limited are taking efforts to purchase Nepal’s hydropower in the next years. The event received around 850 people, including a sizable contingent from India.
IPPAN Vice-President Ashish Garg said that Vedanta Limited has started the process of establishing a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy 2,000MW of energy from Nepal during the event’s closing ceremony.
He made no mention of what stage the arrangement to purchase such a significant amount of electricity was in. However, it was disclosed that the Indian company’s affiliate Vedanta Resources has consented to sign a long-term agreement to buy electricity in five years.
In a similar vein, two Nepali businesses, Kasuwa Khola Hydropower Limited and Bizbell Energy Pvt. Ltd., struck an agreement on Tuesday to allow India’s Manikaran Power Limited to buy around 200 MW of power directly from the hydropower projects these businesses are developing.
Despite the fact that Nepal’s present energy legislation forbids the granting of licenses to power trading companies, it has allowed hydroelectric plants to sell power directly to consumers both domestically and overseas.
Vibhav Agarwal, chief executive officer for power at Vedanta Limited, said in a video message that Nepal’s hydropower will play a significant role in the Indian grid’s and Indian industries’ efforts to reduce carbon emissions. He said that by 2050, his business wanted to decarbonize its whole portfolio.
According to Nepal’s Minister of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, the country needs significant foreign investment to build hydropower for both internal and international use. “We are confident that private developers, domestic financial organizations, and international financial institutions continue to support Nepal with renewed enthusiasm,” he added.