The Nepal Weekly 
November 19, 2024
On Friday, the export of Nepal’s 40 megawatt electricity has started. It has been exported to Bangladesh, which is not an immediate border, through Indian transmission line. Since electricity trade was only between Nepal and India, now Nepal’s electricity has reached the third country for the first time in history. Deepak Khadka, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of Nepal, Manohar Lal, Minister of Electricity of India and Mohammad Fozul Kabir Khan, Advisor to the Ministry of Electricity, Energy and Minerals of Bangladesh jointly switched on the electricity export through virtual method.
The first inland Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV transmission line between Nepal and India will reach India’s Muzaffarpur substation. Then from Muzaffarpur substation, through India’s transmission line, electricity will reach Bangladesh through Bahrampur (India) – Vermara (Bangladesh) 400 kV transmission line between India and Bangladesh.
The Nepal Electricity Authority will sell 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh for five months of the rainy season from June 15 to November 15 every year for five years. Electricity trade between Nepal and Bangladesh will be in dollars. The NEA will get 6.40 US cents per unit by selling electricity to Bangladesh. Nepal is about to earn income in dollars for the first time from the sale of electricity. The authority will get 28 thousand 160 dollars for exporting 40 megawatt electricity to Bangladesh on Friday.
The export of electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh through India started at 12:30 noon. During the rainy season of this year (year 2024), the electricity export will be only till 12 am midnight on Friday. After that, electricity export to Bangladesh will start again from June 15, 2025. The Central Electricity Authority under the Ministry of Electricity of India on Thursday approved the transmission of 40 megawatts of electricity produced by the Trishuli and Chilime hydropower projects to Bangladesh at 18.60 and 21.40 megawatts respectively. The Central Electricity Authority has approved the transmission of 40 megawatts of electricity produced from the two projects to Bangladesh until October 2, 2029.
Currently, the demand for electricity in Bangladesh is aro und 25,000 MW. However, there is not enough power generation. Currently, Bangladesh is producing electricity from coal and diesel power plants. In recent times, the price of diesel and coal has increased significantly, making electricity generation expensive in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is under pressure to reduce the increasing environmental pollution due to diesel and coal power plants. However, Bangladesh has no other option but to shut down diesel and coal power plants. There is a shortage of land for solar and there is no possibility of generating clean hydropower like Nepal. Therefore, Bangladesh has to import electricity.
