KATHMANDU, Sept 3: Nepal’s Bhotekoshi-Trishuli flood has disrupted more than roads, bridges and settlements—it has also cut into the country’s emerging electricity trade, bringing exports to Bangladesh to a halt after key hydropower projects along the Trishuli corridor were submerged.
Before the August 26 disaster, Nepal was sending 40 MW of electricity to Bangladesh during the rainy season—18.60 MW generated by the Trishuli Hydropower Center and another 21.40 MW from the Chilime Hydropower Project.
The flood submerged the powerhouses of both projects, bringing electricity generation to a complete stop and, with it, Nepal’s power exports to Bangladesh.
40 MW export to Bangladesh: Nepal's leap in power trade
An official of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) said they had not sought permission to export power from other projects to Bangladesh. “With almost all the infrastructure of these projects damaged, it is not certain how long it will take to resume the exports,” the official said.
The disruption comes at a time when Nepal has been steadily expanding its electricity trade with its neighbors. In recent years, the NEA has been exporting surplus power to both Bangladesh and India during the rainy season, when domestic generation typically rises.
The latest flood has now interrupted that momentum, at least temporarily, as the extent of damage to the hydropower infrastructure becomes clearer.
The loss also comes with a financial cost. Nepal earned US$9.4 million (Rs 1.29 billion) from electricity exports to Bangladesh between July 1 and November 15 last year.
Addressing the parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said most of these projects are heavily damaged, only a few of them could be repaired. How quickly exports can resume will depend largely on the scale of damage to the submerged hydropower infrastructure and the time required to restore the affected facilities.
