Nepal to export hydropower to Bangladesh at 6.4 cents per unit

Hydropower will be supplied from Jun 15 to Nov 15

Nepal has conveyed to Bangladesh its readiness to export 40 MW of electricity daily starting this monsoon season, priced at 6.4 cents per unit.

Kulman Ghising, managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority, or NEA, shared this information with The Kathmandu Post on Tuesday.

Bangladesh has long urged Nepal to advance the power import discussions.

The Power Development Board, or PDB, has accepted the bid submitted by the NEA and has invited the NEA to sign a purchase agreement for 40 MW of electricity, according to The Kathmandu Post.

Nepal will supply hydropower to Bangladesh during the six months of the monsoon season, from Jun 15 to Nov 15.

The electricity will be supplied to Bangladesh using Indian transmission facilities, entering through Bheramara in Kushtia from the 400 kV substation in Muzaffarpur, India.

In January, the PDB called for bids to purchase 40 MW of hydropower daily from Nepal for five years.

A tripartite agreement was previously established among Bangladesh, Nepal, and India.

Later, the NEA submitted the necessary documents and specified the electricity price.

After analysing the bid and obtaining approval from the relevant authorities, the PDB expressed its interest in signing a power trade agreement with the NEA.

On Jun 11, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the proposal to buy 40 MW of electricity daily from Nepal.

The meeting estimated the annual cost to be around Tk 1.3 billion, with a total cost of Tk 6.5 billion over five years, or Tk 8.17 per unit.

State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the final agreement for importing electricity from Nepal would be signed soon, although he did not specify the exact date.

“The agreement will be finalised soon as all three bodies have agreed on the draft of the tripartite electricity sales agreement, said Ghising.

Nepal and Bangladesh had agreed to sign the tripartite agreement involving the PDB, the NEA and the NPTC Vidyut Vyapar Nigram Ltd, or NVVN, during the meeting of the energy secretary-level joint steering committee in May 2023.