Energy Bangla

Energy electricity and environment news portal

Dhaka Friday,  Mar 29, 2024

Bimstec seeks to clinch energy deal

EB Reporter

The Bimstec member countries are scheduled to meet in Dhaka next week to finalise a deal to set up a regional inter-grid and to trade electricity intra-regionally.
The fifth meeting of the Bimstec Task Force on Trans Power Exchange and Development will be held in Dhaka on March 16.
“Under the Bimstec framework, we have been negotiating for the inter-grid for the last five years to pave the way for electricity transfers and hope to conclude negotiations at this meeting,” said an official of the Foreign Ministry.
This is the latest Bangladeshi initiative to transfer energy from energy-surplus countries to energy-deficit ones.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) is comprised of Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.
In February, a bilateral agreement was agreed under which Bangladesh would import gas from Myanmar to generate electricity, retain part of the energy produced and sell the rest to Myanmar.
“The Bimstec power exchange deal is expected to include a master plan and a time-line for the implementation of the inter-grid,” the foreign ministry official said.
It is expected that the deal will be signed at the next meeting of Bimstec energy ministers expected to be held in Nepal in three or four months, he added.
At its summit in Kathmandu last November, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) member countries agreed to conclude an energy agreement under which members could trade electricity and form sub-regional groups to cooperate in the sector.
The Bimstec memorandum of understanding is slightly different from the Saarc energy deal because the MoU focuses on technical cooperation, the official said.
“The Bimstec deal covers trade issues but the main focus is to have technical cooperation among member countries,” he added.

source:dhaka tribune

Comment here