Nepal’s plan to export electricity to Bangladesh has become uncertain after failing to receive approval from India’s Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

An agreement was signed on October 3rd among companies from three countries to export 40 megawatts of electricity from Nepal to Bangladesh via India.

The agreement specifies that approval from India’s Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) is required for electricity export.

Initially, the companies from the three countries had a verbal agreement to start electricity export from November 1st. However, as CERC approval had not been received by then, the plan was postponed, with the new target to begin exports on November 8th(Friday).

However, since approval has still not come from India, electricity exports will not begin from Friday, Nepal Electricity Authority spokesperson Chandan Ghosh informed Online Khabar.

“We have been inquiring with our Indian counterpart, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN), about the export approval status, but they have informed us that the approval has not been granted,” spokesperson Ghosh said.

According to the agreement among the three countries, Nepal is to export 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh from June 15th to November 15th. However, only one week remains until November 15th.

“Our plan was to start the electricity export this year, even if only for a week, but it’s uncertain whether it will happen or not,” he said.

Acting Ambassador of Nepal to India, Dr. Surendra Thapa, informed that during his visit to India, Minister of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Deepak Khadka, discussed the issue of granting permission for electricity export to Bangladesh with Indian Minister of Power, Manohar Lal Khattar.

He stated that during the discussion, assurance was given that permission for Nepal’s electricity export to Bangladesh would be granted by November 15.

We have found the Indian side to be quite positive on this matter, and permission is likely to be granted in a day or two,” Acting Ambassador Dr. Thapa said.

Until now, Nepal has been exporting electricity only to the Indian market, but the agreement signed on October 3rd opened the way for exports to a third country as well.

The agreement states that Nepal Electricity Authority will export electricity to Bangladesh at a rate of approximately 8.64 Nepali rupees per unit (6.4 US cents) per unit.

When exporting electricity to Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi company will bear the “wheeling charge” for using NVVN’s transmission line in India.

The agreement states that a meter will be installed in Muzaffarpur, India, to measure the electricity exported from Nepal, and the record of the electricity exported to Bangladesh will be kept there. The Nepal Electricity Authority will bear the technical losses up to that point. For the technical losses from Muzaffarpur to the Bangladesh border, the Bangladeshi side will bear the cost as per the agreement. Based on this, it is estimated that the price of electricity sold at 6.4 cents per unit in Nepal will reach approximately 7.6 cents per unit when it arrives in Bangladesh.

Electricity supply to Bangladesh from India will be through the 400 kV transmission line from Behrampur (India) to Bhedamara (Bangladesh). Currently, Bangladesh is importing electricity via the same transmission line from India’s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN).

This agreement is for electricity export for a period of five years. According to the agreement, 14.4 million units of electricity will be exported to Bangladesh every year, as stated by Nepal Electricity Authority’s Managing Director Kulman Ghising at that time. It is estimated that this will generate around NPR 12.1 billion in revenue annually.

Nepal aims to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity to India and 5,000 megawatts to Bangladesh.

Source: Online Khabar