KATHMANDU: Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) Vice President Sunil KC represented Nepal as a speaker at the 14th South Asia Conference 2023 organised by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) in New Delhi, India, on January 17 and 18.
The issues of regional relations are raised and promoted by the Government of India at this conference.
NICCI Vice President, also Founder and CEO of the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA), Sunil KC, who participated as a speaker at the conference, expressed his views on BBIN & Green Energy: Trading Opportunities and Challenges. Among the four countries included in the BBIN region, except Bhutan, all three countries — Bangladesh, India and Nepal — are suffering from the problem of energy shortage, KC opined and emphasized that the development of energy sector and expansion of transmission lines were necessary to avoid the energy crisis in future.
In terms of demand and supply of energy, compared to other green energy, including solar energy, hydroelectric power is more effective from an environmental and economic point of view. In order to get rid of the current energy crisis, the development of hydroelectric power and the expansion of international transmission lines and international energy trade should be prioritised, and all countries in the region should cooperate in this, KC said. He invited all for investment.
Despite being a mountainous country and abundant water resources, we were forced to suffer load shedding of up to 18 hours a day due to lack of energy until six years ago. Recently, although there has been some improvement, electricity is not being delivered to homes in remote districts, but Bhutan has managed to provide electricity to villages, he said and added, almost 99.97% of households have access to electricity and for the past few years Bhutan has been selling its green energy to India. According to Bhutan's Richness Experiences in Cross Border Electricity Trade, 2022 report, currently Bhutan is exporting up to 75% of its total electricity production to India. The situation is that the total electricity production is 117,715.31 gigawatt hours out of 155,925.81 gigawatt hours.
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This image shows attendees at the 14th South Asia Conference 2023 organised by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) in New Delhi, India, on January 17, 2023.[/caption]
Similarly, hydropower has emerged as a major exportable commodity in Nepal during the rainy season. In the last five months from mid-July to mid-December, electricity worth Rs 7.5 billion has been exported from Nepal to India, while currently from mid-May to the beginning of December, 1.357 billion units of hydroelectric power worth Rs 11.163 billion, which was surplus after Nepal's internal consumption, has been exported to India. Similarly, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has planned to export hydroelectric power worth Rs 16 billion to India this year and worth Rs 30 billion next year, KC mentioned and added, "We are now in the initial stage of international electricity business and will join BBIN in the coming days. It is clear that there is a lot of potential and opportunity for international electricity trade between the countries."
He also mentioned that Nepal-India power partnership was started in 1971 to supply electricity to the districts in Nepal, near the Indian border when 5 megawatts of electricity was imported. Electricity was supplied through 132kV transmission lines of Uttar Pradesh, 33kV of Bihar and 11kV of Uttarakhand. Power Trading Corporation was the first Indian company that exported electricity to Nepal through Tanakpur-Mahendranagar 132kV transmission line on a commercial basis since 2008. Similarly, in 2014, both Nepal and India signed a power trade agreement which helped to facilitate electric power, international transmission line and grid connections without any problem.
In the current situation, last year Nepal imported 600MW of electricity from India and this year 400MW during the dry season while during the rainy season, almost 500MW of electricity were exported to India, NICCI Vice President KC said and opined that Nepal has the potential to increase the export in coming years. "700MW of electricity will be added in the coming year, while next year too, 1,000MW of electricity will be added during the rainy season, so it is certain that hydropower will be one of the main items exported from Nepal in the coming years," KC said and added, in order to ease the energy crisis in BBIN region, it is very necessary to have mutual cooperation and solidarity among the countries of this region in the field of international electricity trade and transmission. He invited the government and private sector organisations and businesspersons in India, Bangladesh and other countries to invest in Nepal's hydropower projects.
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This image shows attendees at the 14th South Asia Conference 2023 organised by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) in New Delhi, India, on January 17, 2023.[/caption]
Similarly, hydropower has emerged as a major exportable commodity in Nepal during the rainy season. In the last five months from mid-July to mid-December, electricity worth Rs 7.5 billion has been exported from Nepal to India, while currently from mid-May to the beginning of December, 1.357 billion units of hydroelectric power worth Rs 11.163 billion, which was surplus after Nepal's internal consumption, has been exported to India. Similarly, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has planned to export hydroelectric power worth Rs 16 billion to India this year and worth Rs 30 billion next year, KC mentioned and added, "We are now in the initial stage of international electricity business and will join BBIN in the coming days. It is clear that there is a lot of potential and opportunity for international electricity trade between the countries."
He also mentioned that Nepal-India power partnership was started in 1971 to supply electricity to the districts in Nepal, near the Indian border when 5 megawatts of electricity was imported. Electricity was supplied through 132kV transmission lines of Uttar Pradesh, 33kV of Bihar and 11kV of Uttarakhand. Power Trading Corporation was the first Indian company that exported electricity to Nepal through Tanakpur-Mahendranagar 132kV transmission line on a commercial basis since 2008. Similarly, in 2014, both Nepal and India signed a power trade agreement which helped to facilitate electric power, international transmission line and grid connections without any problem.
In the current situation, last year Nepal imported 600MW of electricity from India and this year 400MW during the dry season while during the rainy season, almost 500MW of electricity were exported to India, NICCI Vice President KC said and opined that Nepal has the potential to increase the export in coming years. "700MW of electricity will be added in the coming year, while next year too, 1,000MW of electricity will be added during the rainy season, so it is certain that hydropower will be one of the main items exported from Nepal in the coming years," KC said and added, in order to ease the energy crisis in BBIN region, it is very necessary to have mutual cooperation and solidarity among the countries of this region in the field of international electricity trade and transmission. He invited the government and private sector organisations and businesspersons in India, Bangladesh and other countries to invest in Nepal's hydropower projects.
READ ALSO:
Published Date: January 20, 2023, 12:00 am
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