The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI) has finalised the projects that are linked with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and which will be discussed with the concerned Chinese authorities during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s state visit to the northern neighbour that starts on June 19.

The MoEWRI has forwarded the final list of the projects that will be on the agenda to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). The Energy Ministry has included seven hydropower projects and six high-voltage transmission lines in the list.

The MoEWRI has included the much talked about hydropower projects like 1,110-megawatt Sunkoshi II, 762MW Tamor, 536MW Sunkoshi III, 450MW Kimathanka Arun, 426MW Phukot Karnali, 426MW Nalgadh and the 245MW Naumure project.

Likewise, the list forwarded to MoFA also includes high-voltage transmission lines like 400kV Galchi-Rasuwagadi-Kyirong transmission line, 400kV Koshi corridor, 400kV Karnali corridor, 400kV Pushpalal Mid-Hill Highway, 400kV Madan Bhandari Highway and the 765kV Butwal-Attariya-Mahendranagar transmission lines.

The pre-feasibility study of the Galchi-Rasuwagadhi-Kyirong cross-border transmission line has already been conducted by a joint team of Nepal Electricity Authority and State Grid Corporation of China. The joint team has submitted the report of this project to the respective authorities of both the governments.

The Cabinet meeting on Sunday decided to establish energy cooperation with the Chinese government and handed over the responsibility to sign the memorandum of understanding titled ‘Nepal-China Cooperation on Energy Sector’ to MoEWRI Minister Barshaman Pun. Till date, the government has not yet established energy cooperation with China. Earlier, the Chinese state-owned National Energy Administration of China had proposed to MoEWRI to establish an energy cooperation mechanism between the two neighbours.

According to Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, spokesperson for MoEWRI, the MoU regarding energy cooperation with China will probably be signed during PM Oli’s upcoming China visit. “The Cabinet approved the proposed MoU on Sunday. It comprises construction of cross-border transmission lines and creation of an investment-friendly environment in the area of energy, water resources and irrigation in both the countries,” he informed.

“The MoU also talks about establishing a secretary- and joint-secretary-level intergovernmental mechanism to continue negotiations in the energy sector.”

In fact, Nepal already has energy sector-related sectary- and joint-secretary-level intergovernmental mechanism with India, which holds regular discussions on energy cooperation.

“We have forwarded the list of projects to MoFA and we are expecting agreements on large scale hydropower projects and transmission lines to be signed during PM Oli’s visit,” said Ghimire, adding that it will depend on the willingness of the Chinese government.