Nepal starts exporting electricity to Bangladesh via India’s power lines

Kathmandu: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Sunday resumed exporting 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh through India’s power transmission system.

The resumption follows a tripartite agreement signed in 2023 between the NEA, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), and India’s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN).

Under the agreement, the NEA will export electricity to Bangladesh for five months – from June 15 to November 15 – during Nepal’s peak production period in the rainy season. NEA Deputy Manager Subarna Sapkota of the Electricity System Control Department stated that a total of 146.88 million units of electricity will be exported over this period, generating an estimated Rs 129 crore in revenue. The export rate has been fixed at 6.40 US cents per unit. Bangladesh has agreed to import electricity from Nepal for the next five years.

The electricity will be transmitted from Nepal’s 400 kV Dhalkebar Substation, routed through Muzaffarpur and Behrampur in India, before reaching the Bheramara Substation in Bangladesh.

According to the NEA, the export resumed at midnight on Saturday after Bangladesh opened a letter of credit (LC), clearing the way for the transaction.

“We started exporting 40 MW from Saturday night,” said NEA Executive Director Hitendra Dev Shakya.

Earlier, there were doubts over Nepal’s plan to export 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh from June 15, as Bangladesh had delayed opening the letter of credit (LC).

On November 15, last year, India’s Power Minister Manohar Lal, Nepal’s Energy Minister Deepak Khadka and Bangladesh’s Energy Ministry advisor Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan inaugurated electricity exports to Bangladesh jointly. That day, 470,000 units of electricity were sold, generating revenue of $30,080.

The NEA also exports electricity to India. It started supplying 185 MW to India’s Haryana on June 1, which has since increased to 200 MW. In accordance with the bilateral agreement, the electricity is being sold at a rate of Rs 5.25 per unit.

IANS