Nepal exports 40 MW power to Bangladesh for first time

Nepal on Friday, for the first time, exported 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh through an Indian transmission line, marking “a milestone in the area of electricity trade in South Asia.”

The electricity was transmitted to Bangladesh via the Indian transmission line at around 1 pm local time, said Chandan Ghosh, spokesperson of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

However, it was only for a single day on Friday that Nepal exported 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh and as per the agreement, will continuously export from June 15, 2025 onwards.

India's Union Minister for Power Manohar Lal, jointly inaugurated the power flow from Nepal to Bangladesh, alongwith Md Fouzul Kabir Khan, Adviser, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh, and Dipak Khadka, Nepal's Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation through a virtual event hosted by Nepal.

Nepal, India and Bangladesh inked the agreement in Kathmandu on October 3 this year to export 40 MW electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh between June 15 to November 15 during the rainy season for the next five years via Indian transmission lines.

The agreement involved the NEA, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited of India and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

However, the actual power export was delayed, mainly due to political unrest in Bangladesh.

India had announced the decision to facilitate the first trilateral power transaction from Nepal to Bangladesh, through Indian grid with an export of upto 40 MW of power during the visit of the former Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to India from May 31 to June 3, 2023, MEA said in a statement in New Delhi.

“During the visit, both sides had expressed their commitment towards greater sub-regional cooperation, including in the energy sector, which would lead to increased inter-linkages between the economies for mutual benefit of all stakeholders,” the MEA said.

Calling it as a “historic occasion,” Ghosh said, it has paved the way for Nepal to sell electricity to a third country.

“It has crushed diplomatic, economic and technical barriers in the trade of electricity with a third country, which is not our immediate neighbour,” he maintained.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi, said this historic occasion marks the first trilateral power transaction which has been carried out through the Indian grid.

The start of this power flow from Nepal to Bangladesh through India is expected to boost sub-regional connectivity in the power sector, it added.

Speaking at the virtual programme, Nepal’s Energy Minister Khadka said, the “beginning of the electricity export to Bangladesh from Nepal marks a milestone in the area of electricity trade in South Asia.”

He also thanked India for playing the role of a facilitator to export electricity to Bangladesh.

As per the agreement, Nepal will charge 6.4 cent in terms of US dollar for each unit of electricity sold to Bangladesh.

Friday's export to Bangladesh came from Nepal's 25-megawatt Trishuli and 22-megawatt Chilime hydropower plants and used India's 400-kV Muzaffarpur-Beharampur-Bhedamara transmission line.

Newspaper Daily Star said the arrangement is “expected to boost sub-regional connectivity in the power sector” and added, power supply from Nepal began at a time when Bangladesh is trying to ensure steady electricity availability in the face of reduced supply from a power plant in Godda, Jharkhand.