India to supply additional 80 MW power to Nepal from Jan 1

India will supply an additional 80 MW of power to Nepal from January 1, which will increase the total total transmission of electricity to the neighbouring nation to 400 MW.
"From the first day of the new year, January 1, 2017, additional power transfer of 80 MW to Nepal is expected to commence. With this, the total supply of electricity to Nepal from India will be about 400 MW," Power Ministry said in a statement today.
According to the statement, Nepal Energy Minister Janardan Sharma held discussions with Power Minister Piyush Goyal during his recent visit to India.
Besides reviewing cooperation and expanding ties between the two countries in the power/energy sector, Sharma had asked for an additional supply of 80 MW to alleviate power shortage in Nepal due to seasonal reduction in supply from domestic hydro projects in winter months, it said.

In a swift response, within 20 days the Power Grid Corp installed an additional 220/132kV, 100MVA transformer at Muzaffarpur substation in India.
This transformer will facilitate additional power supply up to 80 MW to Nepal through the Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar (Nepal) transmission line. With this augmentation, a total of 160 MW can now be supplied to Nepal through this transmission line, it added.

The electrical grids of India and Nepal are connected through various radial lines at 132kV, 33kV and 11kV voltage levels.
Prior to February 2016, as per the request received from Nepal from time to time, various short-term augmentation schemes were carried out which resulted in enhancement of power flow to Nepal from 50 MW to about 240 MW.

In February 2016, Prime Ministers of India and Nepal inaugurated the first high capacity 400kV cross-border line, initially being operated at 132kV, from Muzaffarpur to Dhalkebar.
This had resulted in additional flow of 80 MW, enhancing the total power supply to Nepal to about 320MW.
The Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar line is planned to be charged at 220kV with the commissioning of 220kV Dhalkebar substation in Nepal by March 2017.
This will facilitate additional 150 MW of power transfer to Nepal. This would be followed by commissioning of 400 kV substation at Dhalkebar, which would enable operation of Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar 400 kV DC line at its rated voltage, leading to increase in power transfer to Nepal by 300-400 MW.

India is also working with Nepal to supply power through two more radial 132kV lines -- Raxaul-Parwanipur and Kataiya-Kushaha, which are being commissioned through the grant assistance of Government of India.
India, through PGCIL, has also assisted Nepal in preparation of electricity Master Plan for Nepal- short term (up to 2018-19), medium term (up to 2021-22) and long term (up to 2035).
Accordingly, a number of high capacity cross-border interconnections are being considered between India and Nepal. Initially, these interconnections would be utilised for transfer of power from India to Nepal and later with the development of hydro projects in Nepal, these links would be utilised for transfer of surplus power from Nepal to India.