KATHMANDU, Nov 15: Nepal has started exporting electricity to Bangladesh from Friday, November 15, marking a significant milestone in the regional electricity trade. With this, Bangladesh has become the only other country after India to which Nepal exports electricity. Nepal exported 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh on Friday.
This is the first time in the history of Nepal that electricity is being exported to a country other than India.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Deepak Khadka, Minister for Power of India Manohar Lal and Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, the adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh inaugurated the electricity export jointly by pressing a switch by virtual means.
Electricity will be supplied to the Muzaffarpur substation in India via the Nepal-India cross-border 400 kV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line. From there, the power will be transmitted to Bangladesh via the Baharampur (India)-Bheramara (Bangladesh) 400 kV transmission line.
Nepal starts exporting electricity to India
The Nepal Electricity Authority exported electricity on Friday after the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission of India gave permission to export electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh.
The electricity export to Bangladesh commenced at 12.30 pm in the afternoon and continued till Friday midnight. Power export to Bangladesh will resume from June 15, 2025 after this.
A tripartite agreement was reached among high level officials of Nepal, India and Bangladesh on October 3 regarding power trade. The agreement was signed by Executive Director of NEA, Kulman Ghising, on behalf of Nepal.
The Central Electricity Authority of India had on Thursday given permission to export 40 MW power, including the 18.60 MW power produced from Trishuli Hydropower Project and the 20.40 MW power generated from Chilime Hydropower Project, to Bangladesh.
India's Central Electricity Authority has given permission for exporting 40 MW electricity to Bangladesh until October 2, 2029.
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will export 40 MW power to Bangladesh for six months in the monsoon season from June 15 to November 15 each year. NEA will sell the electricity to Bangladesh in US dollars.
NEA will get 6.40 cents per unit electricity (Rs 8.62 as per the foreign currency exchange rate on Friday). NEA earned USD 28,160 by exporting power to Bangladesh for 11 hours and 30 minutes on Friday.
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