November 14: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has sold electricity generated in Nepal for as much as Rs 32 per unit in India’s power exchange market.

Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai, spokesperson of NEA, said that it sold electricity at Rs 32 per unit in the Indian market in between 6:30 pm to 6:45 pm on Thursday, November 11.  "However, not all units of electricity is sold at Rs 32 per unit. It is being sold at different rates according to the demand of the open market," he said. 

With the permission of the Government of India, NEA has been selling electricity in the Indian power exchange market at competitive rates since last November 3. Generally, NEA sells electricity at an average rate of IRs 3/4 per unit daily. However at the peak hour, the price of electricity goes up due to the rising energy crisis in India.

NEA has been selling 39 MW of electricity generated from its own 24 MW Trishuli Hydropower  Project and 15 MW Devighat Hydropower Project in the Indian energy exchange market since November 3. 

NEA sells electricity through 96 auctions which last every 15 minutes. Accordingly,  the rate of electricity changes every fifteen minutes in the electricity exchange market. So, Nepali electricity was sold at Rs 32 per unit from 6:30 pm to 6:45 pm on Thursday.

NEA said that the rate of electricity changes or remains constant in every bid. It is traded even at the price of IRs 1.99. Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA, said it is a great thing that electricity was sold at Rs 32 per unit. The power rate is unpredictable in the exchange market. According to the demand of the market, the buying and selling rate of electricity is determined by the system every 15 minutes. But, on a daily basis, our electricity is being sold at IRs 3/4," he said. 

The Indian government had granted permission to the NEA to sell electricity in its exchange market on November 3. However, it had allowed Nepal to buy electricity from the exchange market last April. 

NEA had sent an application to the Ministry of Energy to become a member of the Indian power Exchange Market. The Ministry approved the application and made Nepal a member of its electricity exchange market. Nepal is the first country in South Asia to get permission to buy and sell electricity in the Indian market.