KATHMANDU, Dec 8: The Bangladesh government has decided to import 40 MW of electricity from Nepal. A meeting of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday gave in-principle approval to the proposal to import electricity from Nepal.
It is mentioned in the news that the price of electricity purchased from Nepal has not been disclosed. In the next meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement (CGP) of the Council of Ministers, the electricity purchase price will be discussed.
Three months ago, Bangladesh's Minister of State for Electricity, Energy and Minerals Nasrul Hamid had said that the import of hydropower from Nepal has almost reached its final stage. After long discussions at the political and staff levels, India has agreed to allow Bangladesh to import 40 MW of electricity from Nepal using its transmission lines.
Mohammad Hussain, Director General of Bangladesh Power Cell, has informed that the Baharampur-Bheramara transmission line will be used to import electricity from Nepal through the territory of India. According to the plan, Bangladesh will import electricity from Nepal through the Indian nodal agency NTPC Vidyut Vyar Nigam as a service provider.
In order to sell electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh, an electricity sale agreement must be signed between Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), NTPC NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, India and Bangladesh Power Development Board. NTPC is the nodal agency designated by the Government of India for electricity trade with Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries. At present, all electricity import-export transactions between Nepal and India are being done through NTPC.
Bangladesh agreed to import 40 megawatts of electricity from Nepal using the Indian transmission line at the meeting of the Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Secretary-level joint directorate committee held in Bangladesh on May 16.
In 2022, the Government of Nepal has given permission to the NEA to sell domestically produced electricity to neighboring countries India and Bangladesh. Nepal has been exporting excess electricity to India during the rainy season.
Even though it was ready to export to Bangladesh, there was a long time of confusion because India did not allow it to use the transmission infrastructure. However, recently the government of Bangladesh was also delaying the decision citing election reasons.
In 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding 'Energy Cooperation' was signed between Nepal and Bangladesh to cooperate in electricity development and exchange and technical assistance. Since then, a team of officials from Bangladesh has visited Nepal many times to prepare for electricity export. Bangladesh is preparing to sell electricity from the Likhu-4 hydropower project.
