The power ministry of the Indian government informed the country’s parliament that Delhi and Dhaka were preparing the draft concept papers for the proposed regional power trading regime.
Bangladesh and India are working together to draw the contours of the proposed South Asia Power Grid, even as the two countries are set to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the energy sector during Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh on Sep 6-7.
The power ministry of the Indian government informed the country’s parliament that Delhi and Dhaka were preparing the draft concept papers for the proposed regional power trading regime.
K C Venugopal, India’s state minister for power, told Lok Sabha, the Lower House of India’s bicameral Parliament, that India was preparing two draft concept papers on the proposed South Asia Power Grid.
The first concept paper would focus on a framework for planning cross-border transmission links and associated system strengthening through joint system studies, methodology for implementation of trans-country transmission infrastructure including financing arrangements, ownership and security of assets, he said.
Venugopal informed the House that the second concept paper being prepared by New Delhi would focus on the operation of a stable and secure SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), coordinated scheduling and settlement procedures for long-term and short-term cross-border electricity exchange and trade.
He also said Bangladesh was preparing a draft concept paper on structures, functions and institutional mechanisms for SAARC regulatory issues on electricity exchange and trade.
A South Asia Power Grid has since long been in discussion among the government agencies, corporate houses and independent experts. However, it was in the second meeting of the SAARC Expert Group on Electricity at Udaipur in Indian state of Rajasthan on January 18 this year, Bangladesh and India were entrusted with the task of preparing the concept papers.
“After formation of the SAARC or South Asia Power Grid, it may be possible to trade electricity among the SAARC Member States,” Venugopal informed the Indian Parliament, adding that electricity was being presently traded between Bhutan and India and between India and Nepal.
He also told the Lok Sabha in response to another question that a high-voltage direct current back-to-back power transmission line between Berhampur in India and Bheramara in Bangladesh was being built.
Though Venugopal did not elaborate about the progress of the project, sources in the Indian government’s power ministry said that a 400 KV power transmission line between Berhampur and Bheramara could be completed by the end of the next year and power could start flowing from India to Bangladesh in 2013.
During prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to New Delhi in Jan 2010; India and Bangladesh had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in power sector. India had agreed to provide Bangladesh with 250 MW power from its central grid initially and the two countries had immediately started working on grid inter-connectivity.
The Joint Technical Team of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) estimated that an investment of approximately INR (Indian Rupees) 869.21 crore would be required for grid inter-connection. While a total investment of INR 708.88 crore will be required for works in Bangladesh, an amount of INR 160.33 crore would be spent in India.
Sources said that although India offered 250 MW power to Bangladesh according to the Jan 2010 MoU, the transmission line would have an initial transfer capacity of 500 MW, which could later be upgraded to 1000 MW.
India’s state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation also entered into a joint venture with the BPDB for a 1320 MW coal-fired power plant in Khulna. The NTPC completed the feasibility study for the project last April and submitted the report to the BPDB.
The NTPC chairman and managing director Arup Roy Choudhury told journalists last month that the works on the power plant in Khulna might start within six months.
Bilateral ties in the power sector are likely to get a boost during Indian prime minister’s visit to Bangladesh. Sources said that Dhaka and Delhi might also call for greater sub-regional cooperation in the energy sector, involving Nepal and Bhutan.
