Dev, who is also the spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, said that there has been an agreement to complete the necessary procedures to purchase an additional 20 megawatts of electricity in accordance with the 40 megawatts electricity purchase and sale agreement with Bangladesh.
What you should know
Bangladesh, which has been buying 40 megawatts of electricity from Nepal, has agreed to buy an additional 20 megawatts. The recommendation made by a joint task force meeting co-chaired by Nepal's Joint Secretary for Energy Sandeep Kumar Dev and Bangladesh's Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Power, Energy and Minerals KM Ali Reza was agreed upon through secretary-level discussions.
The agreement was reached at the Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC) meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Thursday.
The meeting was co-chaired by Energy Secretary Chiranjeevi Chataut and Bangladesh's Power, Energy and Minerals Secretary Farzana Mamtaz. Dev, who is also the spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, said that it has been agreed to complete the necessary procedures to buy an additional 20 megawatts of electricity in accordance with the 40 megawatts of electricity purchase and sale agreement with Bangladesh.
'We are selling 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh, an agreement has been reached to sell it at 6.40 US cents per unit, and an agreement has been reached to sell an additional 20 megawatts of electricity based on the same agreed rate,' he said. Dev said that Nepal and Bangladesh will complete the necessary procedures for the additional 20 megawatts of electricity and start buying and selling it from June 15.
Nepal has been exporting electricity to India and Bangladesh during the rainy season, but has been buying electricity from India to meet domestic demand during the winter.
A tripartite agreement was signed between the Nepal Electricity Authority, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited India (NVVN) on 17 Asoj 2081. For the first time, electricity was exported to Bangladesh for only 12 hours on 30 Kartik 2081. The Authority had again exported 40 MW of electricity from 15 June to 15 November. There is an agreement to export electricity to Bangladesh from 15 June to 15 November every year.
Nepal's electricity reaches Bangladesh through the first inter-state Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV transmission line between Nepal and India and the Behrampur (India)-Bhedamara (Bangladesh) 400 kV transmission line between India and Bangladesh. According to the Authority, 40 MW of electricity generated from the Trishuli and Chilime Hydropower Projects, 18.60 and 21.40 respectively, have been approved for export to Bangladesh. Both of these projects have also been approved for electricity export to India. The Authority has an agreement to sell Bangladesh electricity and get 6.40 US cents per unit.
The Authority has stated that electricity worth Rs 14.12 billion has been exported to India and Bangladesh from Shrawan to Asoj of the current fiscal year. In three months, the Authority has exported 1.84 billion units of electricity. According to the Authority, electricity worth about Rs 1.34 billion (as per Thursday's exchange rate) has been exported to Bangladesh so far. This income is for 12 hours of November 15, 2024 and from June 15 to November 15, 2025. The Authority has received approval to export 1165 megawatts of electricity to India and Bangladesh.
Electricity is being sold at competitive rates on the 'day ahead' and 'real time market' of the Indian Energy Exchange (IX). The Authority has also been selling electricity to the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) under the mid-term power agreement.
Electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees. Electricity is being exported to Bangladesh in dollars. The Indian government had first allowed the export of 39 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in October 2021.
