Online Desk  :  Bangladesh started receiving electricity from Nepal under a trilateral power-sharing agreement from Friday (November 15). It marks the start of 40 megawatt (MW) electricity supply from Nepal to Bangladesh via an Indian grid, sources at the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) said on Friday. It was jointly inaugurated virtually by Adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Bangladesh Fouzul Kabir Khan, Dipak Khadka, Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Nepal, and Union Minister for Power and Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal.

India announced its decision to facilitate the first trilateral power transaction from Nepal to Bangladesh through the Indian grid during the visit of former Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to India, from May 31 to June 3, 2023. The agreement includes the export of up to 40MW of electricity. During the visit, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing sub-regional cooperation, particularly in the energy sector.
They emphasised that increased collaboration would strengthen inter-linkages between the economies, benefiting all stakeholders involved. Subsequently, a tripartite power sales agreement between Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) of India was signed on October 3, 2024 in Kathmandu.

According to the BPDB, the tariff for electricity was set at 6.40 US cents per kilowatt hour (energy price at Muzaffarpur Substation, India), plus 0.0595 Indian Rupee per kilowatt hour for Indian contractor’s trading margin and also transmission charge to be fixed by the Indian Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Calculating such tariff structure, a top official of the BPDB said that under the proposed deal, each unit of electricity from Nepal will cost Tk 8.50.

The BPDB officials mentioned that the tariff would be much lower if Bangladesh would have been able to import electricity from Nepal directly. But instead of that direct import, Bangladesh will now have to import the electricity through an Indian trading firm NVVN and also through the Indian grid. “There is only a 26-km transmission line that goes through Indian Territory. If Bangladesh was allowed to build this 26-km transmission line at our own cost, the tariff of Nepali electricity would be below Tk 7,” he said. Bangladesh had to accept all Indian conditions to import the electricity from the Himalayan nation. The Indian firm NVVN was involved as per the Indian conditions. Currently, Bangladesh is importing electricity from India through a similar arrangement where the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) is selling power to BPDB.