Kathmandu; Nepal and Bangladesh are looking forward to a breakthrough of cross border energy trade via a secretary-level bilateral energy talk to be held in Dhaka in the second week of May.
In the bilateral meeting, the two countries are expected to take forward various dimensions of the cross border power trade. The meeting which was supposed to take place in March has been delayed on request of the host country, according to Madhu Bhetuwal, joint-secretary of the Ministry of Energy.
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. Bangladesh has already given green signal to buy 50 MW of electricity produced by Nepali power plants. According to Bhetuwal, both the countries are expecting to give a break-through on the bilateral energy trading from the upcoming rainy season.
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 with certain conditions.
Provided the consents from the Indian government, Bangladesh has also expressed its interest to purchase 500 MW out of total production of 900 MW 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.
As of now, Bangladesh has been meeting its energy demand from the electricity generated from the sources including coal, fossil fuels and natural gas, among others. The country pledges to reduce 22 percent of its carbon emissions by 2030.