Nepal, B’desh to hold bilateral energy discussion in Dhaka on May

KATHMANDU: In the second week of May, Nepal and Bangladesh will hold a bilateral energy discussion at the secretary level.

The two nations are anticipated to advance the idea of the cross-border power trade during the bilateral meeting that is scheduled to take place in Bangladesh.

According to Madhu Bhetuwal, joint secretary of the Ministry of Energy, the meeting that was scheduled for March has been postponed at the request of the hosting nation. .

The two-day meeting will conduct a joint-secretary level meeting, followed by the discussion at secretary-level.

While Bangladesh is keen to purchase electricity from Nepal, the Himalayan country is also looking forward to extending its cross-border energy trade to other countries apart from India.

A green light has already been given by Bangladesh to purchase 50 MW of electricity generated by Nepali hydropower plants.

Nepal has also been looking forward to selling its produce to Bangladesh by installing dedicated transmission lines via Indian land. In the meeting of the Nepal-India Energy Secretary-level joint steering committee held last month, India had agreed to submit a proposal for exporting 50 MW of electricity generated from Nepal’s hydropower projects to Bangladesh under certain conditions.

As of now, Bangladesh has been meeting its energy demand from the electricity generated from coal, fossil fuels and natural gas, among other sources. The country pledges to reduce 22 percent of its carbon emissions by 2030.

Provided the consents from the Indian government, Bangladesh has also expressed its interest to purchase 500 MW out of total production of 900 MW electricity from Upper Karnali Hydropower Project. Similarly, the SAARC country is also looking forward to invest in 683 MW Sunkoshi-3 and 1,547 MW Khimti Shivalaya hydropower projects and purchase the produce of the power plants.

According to Bhetuwal, both the countries are expecting to make a breakthrough on bilateral energy trading from the upcoming rainy season.