Delay in 40 MW power Bangladesh export deal

In the absence of a timely agreement, the authority's top officials have indicated that the electricity export to Bangladesh may reach July instead of next June.

Bangladesh's Council of Ministers said that they will give information as soon as the file is approved, but the information has not yet been received, said Kulman Ghisingh, the executive director of the authority. 'The matter of exporting electricity to Bangladesh has not been finalized,' he said, 'the price has been agreed upon, the Council of Ministers of Bangladesh has not approved it.' There will be an agreement between Bangladesh. Soon after, a tripartite agreement will have to be signed between India's NTPC Electricity Trading Corporation (NVVN) and the Power Development Board of Bangladesh and the Nepal Electricity Authority, as electricity will be sent to Bangladesh using India's transmission line.

Ghising of the authority also says that all preparations have been made for the tripartite agreement. He said that he is ready to make an agreement to sell Bangladesh on June 15 at the same price given to India. As soon as the Cabinet of Bangladesh approves the agreement between Nepal and Bangladesh. Soon after, there will be a tripartite agreement," he said, "Export will start after getting the approval of the Bangladesh electricity export projects from the Central Electricity Authority of India." As the agreement has not been reached yet, it is possible to export electricity from next June and in this regard, Ghising said that if there is a delay, it could reach July.

During the SAARC energy secretary-level meeting held in Singapore from February 11 to 14 organized by the World Bank, the price was decided in the secretary-level "sideline" discussion between Nepal and Bangladesh. Gopal Prasad Sigdel, the then secretary of the Ministry of Energy, said that the price was fixed so as not to be less than the price sold to India. Nepal has been selling electricity to India at an average of eight rupees 40 paisa per unit according to the mid-term agreement. On February 9, a team including Executive Director Ghising and Deputy Executive Director Pradeep Kumar Thike went to Bangladesh to discuss electricity prices with Bangladesh.

There was a meeting between the Authority's team and the Bid Evaluation Committee under the Bangladesh Power Development Board in Dhaka last February 10. Although the talks were positive, the issue of price was not settled. After taking a stand not to sell it to India at a price lower than the price offered by Nepal, electricity will be purchased at the price offered by Nepal. According to the Ministry of Energy, the agreement with Bangladesh will be for 5 years.

Nepal will export electricity to Bangladesh through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 kV international transmission line from India's Barampur-Veramara transmission line. It is proposed to export electricity within June 15 to November 15 every year. According to the authority, Bangladesh will pay the fare for using the Indian transmission line. The authority will get the price for electricity sale at Muzaffarpur point in India.

The authority has submitted a proposal that the fees to be paid to the Indian company NTPC Electricity Trading Corporation (NVNN) and about 3 percent of the leakage will be borne by Bangladesh. The Economic Affairs Committee of the Cabinet of Bangladesh approved the proposal to purchase 40 MW of electricity from Nepal on December 20. Accordingly, Bangladesh had sent a letter to Nepal to send a proposal for sale by prioritizing the price. The authority submitted the proposal to Bangladesh in the first week of February. Bangladesh will import electricity from Nepal through India's NVNN as a service provider. NVNN has also been selling India's electricity to the Bangladesh Power Development Board.

Bangladesh wants to construct Sunkoshi third project of 683 megawatt capacity in Nepal and take its electricity as well. In the secretary-level meeting of Nepal-Bangladesh held in the first week of last May, both countries agreed to build this project together. The Indian company GMR has said that it will also sell 500 MW of electricity generated from Upper Karnali with a capacity of 900 MW to Bangladesh.

In August last year, the Nepal-Bangladesh secretary-level meeting agreed to take 50 MW of electricity from Nepal in the first phase. At that time, Nepal Electricity Authority, Bangladesh Power Development Board, NTPC Electricity Trading Corporation agreed to request India for a tripartite electricity purchase and sale agreement to export electricity through the high capacity dedicated transmission line in Veramara, Bangladesh. It has already been agreed to use the Indian grid.

In the third Nepal-Bangladesh foreign secretary-level joint consultation meeting on May 5, Bangladesh's foreign secretary Momen emphasized that the tripartite energy agreement between Bangladesh-India-Nepal will be concluded soon. He said that he would help Bangladesh to import electricity from Nepal after the agreement was concluded.

On May 9, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud had already decided to import electricity from Nepal in a meeting with Foreign Secretary of India Vinay Mohan Kwatra. In a meeting with Foreign Secretary Kwatra, who is visiting Bangladesh, he said that the final decision has been made to import electricity from Nepal using Indian transmission lines.

"We have made final preparations to import Nepal's electricity through India, now we are waiting for tariff determination," he said. Bangladesh, which is short of electricity, has planned to import 500 MW of electricity from Nepal. In June last year, India agreed to sell electricity to Bangladesh using India's transmission lines. In the meeting, India's Foreign Secretary Kwatra said that the goal is to reach 40 megawatts from Nepal to Bangladesh using Indian transmission lines.