Nepal flood halts power supply to BD

Nepal's electricity exports have dropped sharply following devastating floods in the Bhotekoshi river system, with power supplies to Bangladesh effectively coming to a halt, reports The Kathmandu Post.

Nepal typically exports around 1,000 megawatts of electricity during the wet season. But following the 26 August floods, exports have fallen to about 650 MW as several hydropower plants have been forced to shut down or operate at reduced capacity.

Bangladesh has been among the hardest hit as it had only recently started receiving electricity from Nepal through India's power grid.

Two hydropower plants authorised to supply electricity to Bangladesh �" the 22.1 MW Chilime Hydropower Project and the
24 MW Trishuli Hydropower Project - have suffered flood damage and remained out of operation since last week.

Chilime was authorised to sell 21.4 MW to India, while Trishuli was approved to export 18.6 MW. Both plants were also cleared to supply electricity to Bangladesh through India. Nepal receives payment in US dollars for power sold to Bangladesh.

"Both projects supplying electricity to Bangladesh have been damaged, so we have asked India to allow electricity from another project to be sent as an alternative," said Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, acting managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

"At present, electricity exports to Bangladesh are effectively at zero," he said.
The floods have affected Nepal's power generation more broadly, with generation halted at 12 hydropower projects since the disaster.

The NEA has placed the Sanjen, Upper Sanjen and Salasungi projects in "isolated mode" after their transmission lines were damaged. Under this arrangement, the plants operate outside the national grid and generate electricity only for nearby areas.