Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has invited 54 hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 4,965 MW to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) with it.
Issuing a notice on Wednesday, the NEA said a meeting of its Board of Directors held in Kathmandu on March 25 decided to advance the PPA process with hydropower projects having a capacity above 10 MW and have already entered into a grid connection agreement.
The projects include 38 run-of-river projects and 16 semi-reservoir projects.
The decision has been taken to meet the objective of increasing installed capacity to 28,500 MW by 2035 as per the Energy Development Roadmap, 2024, approved by the cabinet on December 31 last year, NEA said in the notice.
NEA has requested promoters of these projects to approach its Electricity Trade Department with the necessary documents within 30 days.
The utility has said in the notice that priority would be given to projects that are already operational, under construction with completed financial arrangements, and capable of supplying electricity through transmission lines and substations without overloading.
Projects capable of supplying electricity through transmission lines and substations that can operate under the N-1 contingency standard (i.e., able to function even if one component fails) will also get priority.
