Nepal’s power flow to BD hits snag
Nepal’s electricity exports to Bangladesh have been disrupted for nearly a month after floods damaged hydropower plants, while India has yet to approve additional projects for electricity sales to Bangladesh, according to a report by The Kathmandu Post.
Nepal normally exports surplus electricity to India and Bangladesh during the monsoon season, when hydropower generation is high. It relies on electricity imports from India during the dry winter months as domestic generation declines.
The situation has worsened after floods in the Bhotekoshi River damaged hydropower infrastructure, including the Trishuli and Chilime projects. Both projects had been authorised to supply electricity to Bangladesh through India, but exports to Bangladesh have effectively stopped.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said the floods have shut down 431.1 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity during the monsoon, when Nepal would normally have surplus electricity available for export.
Another 134.85MW that Nepal is authorised to export to India and Bangladesh remains unsold because the necessary approvals have not been granted.
Nepal has so far secured approval to export around 1,200MW generated by 37 hydropower projects to India and Bangladesh.
India has renewed approval for Nepal to import up to 654MW of electricity but has yet to renew export permits for three hydropower projects whose previous approvals expired.
The export permit for the 38.8MW Upper Chameliya Hydropower Project expired on June 30, while permits for the 24.25MW Seti River and 10.7MW Upper Tadi Khola projects expired on July 31.
India’s Ministry of Power has approved electricity imports by the NEA for 18 hours a day, from midnight to 6pm, from September 13 to December 31.
However, India has not yet approved Nepal’s request to use additional projects for electricity exports to Bangladesh.
The NEA has sought approval to sell electricity generated by the 9.94MW Kabeli B-1 and 82MW Solu Khola projects to Bangladesh. Both projects already have permission to sell electricity in India’s Day-Ahead and Real-Time Markets, but approval for exports to Bangladesh has not been granted.
“We have sent the name of another project for approval to export electricity to Bangladesh, but we have not received approval yet,” acting NEA managing director Dhirghayu Kumar Shrestha told The Kathmandu Post.
“We have also asked India to renew the permits for projects whose export approvals have expired, but we have not received them yet,” he said.
Nepal uses India’s electricity market and transmission infrastructure to facilitate cross-border power trade. India’s grid is also used to transmit Nepalese electricity to Bangladesh under the trilateral power-trade arrangement between Nepal, India and Bangladesh.
Nepal began exporting 40MW of electricity to Bangladesh in November 2024 under the agreement. The power is transmitted through India’s grid.
The current disruption highlights Nepal’s dependence on Indian regulatory approval for electricity trade with both countries. India’s approval is required for individual hydropower projects to export electricity through its market and transmission network.
The Bhotekoshi floods have compounded those difficulties.
The 14.1MW Devighat Hydropower Project, which had approval to export electricity to India, was also damaged. Nepal has sought permission to sell electricity generated by the Lower Modi project as a replacement. Lower Modi already has approval to sell electricity through the Indian Energy Exchange, but India has not yet authorised its sale in the bilateral market.
An NEA source told The Kathmandu Post that Nepalese officials check with their Indian counterparts about the pending approvals regularly but are repeatedly told that the process is “underway.”
The delays are significant because Nepal normally has surplus generation during the monsoon but is currently unable to sell all the electricity available for export.
Nepal is currently exporting around 600MW of electricity to India each day, according to NEA officials.
At the same time, Nepal faces uncertainty over electricity supplies during the coming dry season.
The recent floods have created a power shortfall of between 350MW and 400MW, while the restoration timeline for damaged plants remains uncertain.
Nepal is also not currently authorised to import electricity during the evening peak, when demand is expected to be highest during winter. Its present import approval runs only until 6pm.
“We need electricity in the winter months. We will continue exporting until December, and we will need imports after that,” NEA spokesperson Rajan Dhakal told The Kathmandu Post.
“India has told us it will review the matter later. We are still exporting around 600MW a day,” he said.
The situation leaves Nepal seeking to maximise exports of surplus hydropower while preparing to rely on electricity imports from India once domestic generation declines during the dry season.
For Bangladesh, the disruption highlights the importance of the trilateral transmission arrangement through which Nepalese hydropower reaches the country via India.
Nepal and Bangladesh had also agreed in 2025 to increase their existing 40MW arrangement by another 20MW, but India has not approved the additional supply, citing transmission constraints.
The latest flood damage and pending approvals therefore pose challenges for Nepal’s efforts to expand electricity exports to Bangladesh while securing sufficient power for its own winter demand.
