Agreement to import hydropower from Nepal on Thursday
October 1, 20242 Mins Read
Jumbangla Desk: Bangladesh is going to import 40 MW of hydropower from Nepal. A tripartite agreement between Nepal, India and Bangladesh is scheduled to be signed on Thursday (October 3).
The tripartite agreement will be signed by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), India's NTPC Vidyut Biyar Nigam Limited and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
The Nepalese media The Kathmandu Post reported this news in a report.
Mohammad Shafiullah, information and public relations officer of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources told the media on Monday night, 'A delegation of four people went to Nepal today (Monday) to participate in the tripartite agreement. The decision was to go with a delegation of 8, which was later scaled down.'
As per the terms of the agreement, NEA will get a price of USD 6.40 per unit of electricity. India's territory and supply lines will be used for this power supply. For this, the Indian side is also participating in this agreement . This agreement was supposed to be done on July 28. However, the signing was postponed due to political changes in Bangladesh.
Electricity from Nepal will be exported to Bangladesh through Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV transmission line with metering point at Muzaffarpur, India. In case of any technical damage in the transmission line from Dhalkebar to Muzaffarpur, the cost of compensation or repair will be borne by NEA.
Electricity from Nepal will reach Bangladesh through a 400 kV transmission line from Beharampur (India) to Bheramara (Bangladesh). NEA intends to export electricity generated from the 25 MW Trishuli project and the 22 MW Chilim project to Bangladesh. Both the power plants have received approval to export power from India.
Bangladesh's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (ECNEC) on December 6, 2023 gave in-principle approval to import 40 MW of electricity from Nepal. Subsequently, BPDB issued a tender for power purchase for five years on January 1 this year as per the tripartite agreement between Nepal, Bangladesh and India.
Nepal Electricity Authority is planning to sell electricity to Bangladesh during monsoon season from June 15 to November 15 every year. Expected export is 1 lakh 44 thousand megawatt-hours. NEA has estimated an income of 9.216 million USD from electricity export to Bangladesh in these five months.
