IN HISTORIC STEP, NEPAL'S HYDROPOWER FLOWS INTO BANGLADESH

The Himalayan nation of Nepal has the luxury of having a surplus in electricity thanks to the bounty of rivers flowing through the land-locked country.

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It has been exporting its hydroelectricity to neighboring India with its eyes set on energy-hungry Bangladesh to boost its exports. In its bid to export electricity to Bangladesh, Kathmandu had to sign a deal with India to use its grid and facilitate the transfer of power to the next neighboring country. The three countries made history on November 15 (Friday) when a trilateral power-sharing agreement between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh came into effect with the export of 40MW of electricity to Bangladesh. Thus, with the use of the Indian grid, Dhaka and Kathmandu formally launched energy trade between the two countries. This also marked the beginning of building South Asian power connectivity involving the three countries, a long-cherished desire of the three friendly neighbors.

According to a report in Kathmandu Post, Nepal and Bangladesh are not territorially linked. The two nations are separated by the 'Siliguri Corridor'—a 22-kilometer stretch in the Indian state of West Bengal that lies between southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.

According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the power utility, this is the first and last export to Bangladesh this year. As per the power agreement signed between Kathmandu and Dhaka on October 3, Nepal will export 40MW of electricity annually from June 15 to November 15, for five years.