India has finally approved the Nepal Electricity Authority to trade in its real-time energy market.

India had earlier allowed Nepal to participate in the day-ahead market where the power’s quantum and prices are fixed a day ahead of trading.

With the approval from the Central Electricity Authority of India, Nepal’s electric utility can now export power from Saturday through a bidding process that is held one hour and fifteen minutes ahead of the sale.

As requested by Nepal, India had granted Nepal as well as other neighbours such as Bhutan and Bangladesh access to its real-time power market by amending the ‘procedure for approval and facilitating import/export (cross border) of electricity by the designated authority’ issued in February 2021.

This amendment opened the doors for participation in both DAM and RTM.

Earlier, the option of giving access to the real-time market was kept open, but no provision for it had been guaranteed.

Nepal had been seeking access to the real-time market in order to avoid wastage of electricity, especially during the rainy season when Nepal’s hydropower projects operate at their total installed capacity.

The Central Electricity Authority of India has allowed the trading of 44 MW of electricity generated by the 19.4 MW Lower Modi and 24.25 MW Kabeli B-1 hydropower projects in the real-time market in the first phase.

The electricity generated from both these projects was being sold in the day-ahead market and the approval was ending on Saturday.

Prabal Adhikari, power trade director at the NEA, said approval has been received for the sale of electricity from two projects in both the day-ahead and the real-time market.

“We had to wait a day for electricity import and export earlier. Now, we will be able to trade by bidding one hour and fifteen minutes ahead of the sale. The approval has opened the doors for buying and selling power in case of a sudden halt in electricity production or an increase in production,” said Adhikari.

The NEA has currently received approval for the export of 632 MW including 522 MW in the competitive market and 110 MW to the state of Haryana through NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited.

The authority said it has exported electricity worth Rs5.43 billion to India in the first two months of the current fiscal year 2023-24.