KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has said that a tripartite agreement to export electricity to Bangladesh from Nepal via India will be signed on July 28.

Nepal will be able to export electricity to a third country other than India for the first time after the agreement comes into force. Nepal has been exporting electricity in India’s competitive market since 2021.

Spokesperson for the ministry, Nabin Raj Singh, told New Business Age, “A tripartite agreement between the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), India's NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN), and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is set to be signed on July 28.”

Singh added, “Since this is a historic moment, Energy Minister Deepak Khadka wrote a letter to the Indian and Bangladeshi energy ministers to participate in the agreement signing program.”

The NEA had been waiting for the Bangladesh government's decision regarding electricity export from Nepal for a few months. Last week, BPDB wrote to NEA to enter into an agreement for the purchase and sale of 40 megawatts of electricity produced in Nepal. The date of the tripartite signing was finalized based on coordination between the three sides.

According to the NEA, it will sell 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh for six months of the rainy season (from June 15 to November 15 every year) for five years and will be paid in US dollars. The authority will receive 6.4 cents per unit by selling electricity to Bangladesh.

The ministry stated that 28,800 megawatt hours of electricity will be exported to Bangladesh per month. A total of 144,000 megawatt hours of electricity will be exported to Bangladesh in the next five months, earning Nepal Rs 1.23 billion.

Additionally, Singh mentioned that the bilateral high-level energy-related mechanism meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh is scheduled to be held on July 29 and 30 in Pokhara. The first day of the meeting will see joint secretary level joint working group meeting followed by secretary level joint steering committee meeting the next day.

Singh also noted that an agreement regarding the formation of a joint venture to build the Sunkoshi 3 hydropower project with a capacity of 683 megawatts may be signed at the bilateral mechanism meeting. He said, “We have sent the draft of the memorandum to Bangladesh. If there is an agreement before the meeting, the contract will be signed. Otherwise, there will only be more discussion about it.”