BD to invest in hydro-power projects jointly with Nepal

Bangladesh wants to make a joint investment in the hydro-power projects with the Himalayan country Nepal to open power import-business in near future.
For making investment in the Nepalese hydro-power project a meeting of the Joint Steering Committee co-led by the energy secretaries of Nepal and Bangladesh and the Joint Working Group co-led by the joint secretaries will be held virtually on September 13-14, Power Division sources said.
"Bangladesh is working on a project to import 500 MW of electricity from Nepal via India. India has executed a MoU with GMR Upper Karnali Hydropower Ltd (GUKHL), Power Cell DG Mohammad Hossain told the Daily Observer on Sunday.
Earlier, Bangladesh requested Nepal to share its views and comments regarding examining the
    easibility for joint participation and development of Sunkoshi-3 (approx. 536MW) and Sunkoshi-2 (approx. 1110 MW) hydro-power project in Nepal.
For importing power Bangladesh has to use Indian corridor that is why both countries may consider tri-party MoU for Joint development hydro power project in Nepal, he added.  
In 2014, Power Division sent a draft MoU to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal on Power Sector Cooperation. However, Nepal is yet to send back the draft.
International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of World Bank, willing to provide fund and technical support to Bangladesh for making investment in the Nepalese hydro-power project.
"We want to make a joint investment in the hydro-power projects with the Himalayan country to import 500-MW electricity," Nasrul Hamid said.
The fourth meeting of Nepal-Bangladesh commerce joint-secretary level technical committee was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 22-23 October 2019.
The meeting focused on further boosting trade between the two countries and reducing the trade deficit as well as increasing connectivity.
According to the Energy Ministry, the major items on the agenda are exporting electricity to Bangladesh using Indian power lines, and attracting Bangladeshi investment in Nepal's hydropower sector.
Nepal is expected to produce surplus electricity in a few years and ministry officials and the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) are scouting for markets for the extra energy in Bangladesh.
"We will try to figure out ways to export surplus electricity from Nepal using Indian transmission lines," said Gokarna Panta, under-secretary at the Nepal's concern ministry earlier said.
The NEA plans to export electricity generated by several hydropower projects in the eastern region to Bangladesh using India's transmission infrastructure.
The seasonal complementarities of demand and supply of electricity that exist in Nepal and Bangladesh will make electricity export highly viable, according to the NEA.
The Nepal-Bangladesh meeting will also discuss the possibility of developing two hydropower projects with a total installed capacity of 1,600 MW with Bangladeshi investment.
"Bangladesh was interested in financing the 1,110 MW Sunkoshi II and 536 MW Sunkoshi III located on the Sunkoshi River in central Nepal.