NEA Manages Disaster Outages with Imports as Long-Term Deals Advance

The Nepal Electricity Authority is arranging to import 1,154 megawatts of power from India through cross-border links including the Dhalkebar–Muzaffarpur and Tanakpur–Mahendranagar lines, following severe disaster damage. Recent monsoon flooding and landslides disabled over 1,200 megawatts of domestic generation and transmission capacity, including more than 400 megawatts knocked offline along the Trishuli River.

Even with emergency domestic deficits, the state utility is progressing with regional sales. Following clearance from the electricity regulatory commission and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, the NEA approved exporting 85.6 megawatts of wet-season surplus electricity to the Indian energy exchange via Tata Power Trading Company Limited between November 2026 and May 2029.

To address broader infrastructure hurdles, the utility also partnered with the Asian Development Bank on public-private advisory agreements. The initiative seeks over $200 million in private investment to build a 134-kilometre, 400-kilovolt transmission corridor connecting Tingla, New Khimti, and Dhalkebar, alongside 100 to 150 megawatt-hours of utility-scale battery storage.