Kathmandu, May 23: India and Bangladesh are ready to purchase power from Nepal, according to Kulman Ghising, Managing Director of the Nepal power Authority. MD Ghising stated on Sunday that it is untrue that there is no market for the energy produced in Nepal during a program held to sign a contract with the Employees' Provident Fund for the loan investment of the Tamakoshi 5th Hydropower Project.

He stated, "Our first objective is to use electricity produced within the nation. For this, work is being done all over the nation to extend and reinforce the infrastructure for transmission and distribution.” Exporting any excess electricity after domestic use is required.”

With regard to the sale of energy, MD Ghising asserted that there is no market risk because a market can be found for the export of any excess electricity. "The market for the sale of power produced in Nepal is secured, in my knowledge, having taken part in numerous meetings with India and Bangladesh.

In Nepal, run-of-river hydropower projects operate at full capacity when it rains. A power purchase agreement (PPA) is formed at a rate of Rs 4.80 for each unit of electricity generated by such plants during the rainy season.

Domestically used and stored electricity can be sold at a profit in Bangladesh and India during the rainy season. There are some circumstances where the rate of electricity export is better in the rainy season than in the winter, he said, "but the rate of export has not yet been decided.

"We will buy the electricity; we need not worry about the market," they stated at the meeting, he said.

Because there is no market, he claimed, PPA should not be discontinued. Risks must be taken by state agencies. PPA is both a risk and an opportunity, the speaker added. "How could the hydropower projects be built now if PPA was not done in the past?

A tripartite agreement is being prepared, a sizable network of transmission lines for the supply of electricity to Bangladesh and India is being built, according to Ghising.