Nepal, India, Bangladesh sign power agreement
kathmandu: Nepal, India and Bangladesh on Thursday signed a long-awaited tripartite agreement to facilitate cross-border electricity trade, officials here said.
As per the agreement, Nepal will export its surplus electricity to Bangladesh via India annually during the rainy season, from June 15 to November 15. Nepal will use India’s transmission line to distribute electricity through its territory to Bangladesh. In the first phase, Nepal will export 40 MW of hydroelectricity to Bangladesh via Indian territory. The rate per unit of electricity has been fixed at 6.4 cents. From the export of electricity, Nepal will make an annual income of around $9.2 million, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) officials said.
Electricity will be exported to Bangladesh via the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV transmission line, with the metering point in Muzaffarpur.
On December 6, 2023, Bangladesh’s Cabinet Economic Affairs Committee approved the import of 40 MW of electricity from Nepal. The agreement was originally scheduled for July 28, which was postponed due to political turmoil in Bangladesh.
According to sources at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, meetings at the energy secretary and joint-secretary levels were held in Kathmandu on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for the agreement. The MoU was signed between NEA executive director Kulman Ghising, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam CEO Deino Naran, and Bangladesh power development board chairman Mohamad Rizwan Karim, Nepal’s Ministry of Energy officials said.
