Nepal has signed a significant tripartite agreement to export 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh via India, following an earlier arrangement with India. This agreement was signed by Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority; Mohammad Rezaul Karim, Chairman of the Bangladesh Power Development Board; and Renu Narang, CEO of India’s nodal agency, NVVN.
The signing ceremony saw the presence of key officials, including Nepal’s Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Minister Deepak Khadka, and Bangladesh’s Minister for Forest, Environment, Climate Change, and Water Resources Syeda Rizwana Hasan, alongside other senior officials from both countries.
A Key Milestone for Regional Power Cooperation
Nepal, Bangladesh, and India are taking initiatives to form a tripartite mechanism for cooperation in the power sector, including power trade and the construction of inter-country transmission lines. Recent meetings between energy secretaries of Nepal and Bangladesh had aimed to finalize a power trade agreement. However, this preparation was postponed due to political changes in Bangladesh. A planned signing ceremony, to be attended by the Energy Ministers of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, was delayed at the last moment due to the political shift.
The tripartite agreement was later finalized, marking the second attempt to reach such a deal, and it is seen as a breakthrough despite the delays. Bangladesh’s interim government had been actively discussing electricity imports, and necessary steps were taken from all sides to finalize the agreement.
Transmission Infrastructure and Future Projects
Under the agreement, the Nepal Electricity Authority will provide electricity to India’s NVVN, which will then deliver it to Bangladesh via Indian infrastructure. This electricity will be transmitted through the first-ever inter-country transmission line between Nepal and India, a 400 kV line, with accounting done at Muzaffarpur. The electricity will then reach Bangladesh through India’s Berhampur-Bhedamara transmission line.
Nepal is preparing to export power generated by the Trishuli (25 MW) and Chilime (22 MW) Hydropower Projects to Bangladesh, building on the approval for export to India. The export to Bangladesh will cover five months of the rainy season (June 15 to November 15), with 144,000 megawatt-hours of electricity planned for export over this period each year for five years. Nepal will sell electricity to Bangladesh at Tk17 (Rs30) per unit.
Sunkoshi III Hydropower and Upper Karnali Projects
The Nepal Electricity Authority and Bangladesh Power Development Board are advancing preparations for a joint venture to develop the 680 MW Sunkoshi Reservoir Hydropower Project. This joint venture was further solidified during the 5th meeting of the Energy Secretary-level Joint Board of Directors in June 2020. The same meeting tasked a technical team to explore options for an inter-country transmission line to support future power trade between Nepal and Bangladesh.
Additionally, Bangladesh has shown interest in purchasing 500 MW of electricity from Nepal’s Upper Karnali Hydropower Project, which will be built by India’s Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR). Although multiple discussions have taken place, a final agreement has not yet been reached.
Bangladesh’s Long-Term Power Import Goals
Bangladesh has expressed its commitment to import 9,000 MW of electricity from Nepal by 2040. A long-term bilateral agreement between Nepal and India, allowing Nepal to export 10,000 MW of electricity over 10 years, aligns with this goal. Cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh in the energy sector has been ongoing since 2005, when an agreement was first signed, projecting revenue of Rs 1.23 billion for Nepal from electricity exports during the rainy season alone.
This recent agreement to export electricity to Bangladesh, though symbolic, is seen as a significant achievement for Nepal’s energy sector. It marks the beginning of what the government hopes will be further regional power cooperation, positioning Nepal as a key electricity supplier within South Asia. Nepal currently exports electricity only to India, but this new agreement opens a path to additional regional markets.
Continued Cooperation and Future Prospects
The foundation for bilateral energy cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh was laid in 2018 when a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Nepal’s then Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Barshaman Pun, and Bangladesh’s State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, Nasrul Hamid. Since then, meetings of energy secretaries from both nations have taken place regularly to advance collaboration in the power sector.
As Nepal looks to expand its hydropower exports, the country’s efforts to strengthen partnerships with both Bangladesh and India are paving the way for more robust regional energy cooperation in the coming years.
