Bangladesh, Nepal agree to use Indian grid for power trade

Countries plan joint investment in hydropower projects

FE Team | Published: June 24, 2019 00:11:18

Bangladesh and Nepal have agreed to use the existing setup of Indian transmission lines to trade power in the short run, according to a report by The Kathmandu Post.
Both countries have also planned to make joint investments in hydropower projects in Nepal.
The agreement was signed by Nepal's Energy Secretary Dinesh Ghimire and his Bangladeshi counterpart Ahmad Kaikaus during the Joint Steering Committee meeting at Cox Bazaar on Friday.
The secretary level meeting between energy officials of both countries also decided to study the prospect of building dedicated power lines in the long term in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two countries on 'Cooperation in the Field of Power Sector' last August.
Discussions on the use of Indian transmission lines passing through the Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken's Neck, emerged in the wake of recent amendments to the cross-border energy trading regulations by India.
The India has relaxed earlier provisions and given explicit recognition to tripartite arrangements in cross-border electricity trade.
"The Transmission Planning Agency of India in consultation with the Transmission Planning Agency of the neighbouring country shall grant access to the Participating Entities to use Cross Border Transmission Link for cross border trade of electricity," states India's Cross Border Trade of Electricity Regulations, 2019.
During past meetings, Nepal and Bangladesh pledged to make their best efforts in devising such trilateral arrangements.
According to an official present in the meeting, the authorities from both countries have also planned to study and invest in 20 major hydropower project proposed in the white paper released by the energy ministry of Nepal in May 2018.
The proposed projects include four storage and other major hydroelectric power plants such as Upper Arun, Dudhkoshi, Sunkoshi 2, Sunkoshi 3, West Seti and Phukot Karnali.
The estimated annual cumulative output of the proposed and under-study projects stands at 42713.18 GWhr, nearly 12 times Nepal's current total annual output.
"However, as majority of those projects are either under proposal or under study, the figures might vary in the final detail design," said the official.
Out of the 20 projects, the Nepal Electricity Authority is currently evaluating the detailed project report of the 800 MW Dudhkoshi Hydropower project and the recent project optimisation of Upper Arun, which revised its installed capacity from 725 MW to 1040 MW.
Bangladesh, one of the fastest growing economies aided by its manufacturing sector, is an energy-hungry nation which makes it a lucrative market for power produced in Nepal.
To satisfy its power demand, Bangladesh has floated plans to import around 9,000 MW from Nepal over the course of a decade.