Bangladesh to purchase additional 20 MW of electricity from Nepal

KATHMANDU: Bangladesh has agreed to purchase an additional 20 MW of electricity from Nepal.

The seventh meeting of the Energy Secretary‑level Nepal‑Bangladesh Joint Steering Committee on Energy, held on Thursday, agreed to complete the necessary procedures to export 20 MW of electricity in addition to the existing 40 MW.

Spokesperson for Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI), Sandeep Kumar Dev, said an agreement has been reached to export additional energy from Nepal after necessary technical preparations were made.

The steering committee meeting in Dhaka was attended by Energy Secretary Chiranjibi Chataut for Nepal, and Farzana Mamtaz, Secretary at Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, for Bangladesh. The meeting discussed recommendations made by the joint action committee meeting held on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Dev said that six agenda items were discussed at the steering committee meeting. The committee agreed that each side would complete its processes and sign a memorandum of understanding on promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.

As part of the agreement, Bangladesh will provide technical assistance to Nepal in areas such as energy testing, electric vehicle charging stations and rooftop solar installations. Capacity‑building programmes between the two countries will also be advanced.

The secretary‑level mechanism, the steering committee, has been working to expand the energy sector and power trade between the two countries and to exchange experience of developments taking place in the sector.

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