The Daily Star
Nepal is set to start exporting 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh from midnight today, which will continue till November 15.
This is the second year Nepal is exporting its hydropower to Bangladesh, using an Indian transmission line.
At least 20 MW more electricity export, which was agreed upon in principle in 2025, however, has not been possible as India cited transmission capacity constraints.
“This is a milestone for Nepal-Bangladesh energy trade,” said Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari at a diplomatic reception in the Nepalese embassy this evening.
Upon Bangladesh’s interest in importing hydroelectricity for several years, the Nepal-India Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC) on January 5, 2024 had reached an agreement in principle allowing Nepal to export 40 MW electricity to Bangladesh.
As per the decision, Nepal will use India’s transmission system in line with India’s import-export guidelines.
On October 2, 2024, another JSC meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh agreed to proceed with the tripartite deal.
On October 3, a tripartite agreement was signed among Bangladesh, India and Nepal for annual export of 40 MW electricity from June 15 to November 15.
In November last year, Nepal and Bangladesh agreed in principle to expand exports by an additional 20 MW under the existing 40 MW arrangement.
Accordingly, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had formally requested Indian authorities to facilitate the additional 20 MW export.
However, Indian authorities said the current capacity does not allow additional transmission.
Ghanshyam Bhandari said Nepal has the capacity of exporting up to 400MW of hydropower to Bangladesh.
“This will need further discussion and transmission capacity development,” he said.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/environment/natural-resources/energy/news/nepal-export-40mw-power-bangladesh-4198811
