Talks on the construction of electrical transmission lines across the Nepal-China border will be held in Kathmandu this week.
A team from China's State Grid Corporation is arriving in Nepal (tomorrow) Sunday to negotiate with the officials of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) regarding the development of cross-border transmission lines.
Komal Nath Atreya, head of the project, said that detailed discussions will be held with the Chinese side regarding the development of the proposed Ratamate-Rasuwagadhi-Kerung cross-border transmission line project.
A meeting of the Nepal-China 'Joint Working Group' on construction of cross-border transmission line is going to be held in Kathmandu.
Nepali ambassador to China, Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, expressed his belief that the upcoming meeting will be important to speed up the construction of the cross-border transmission line.
"I think this meeting will be very fruitful. I have received the understanding from the Chinese side that the construction of the transmission line should be carried out without delay," Ambassador Shrestha told Nepalkhabar over the telephone from Beijing.
According to an official of the Electricity Authority, the possible electricity business will be discussed in the meeting of the 'Joint Working Group'. He said that the demand and supply situation of electricity in Nepal and China will also be dwelled on.
The Nepal-China cross-border transmission line will have a capacity of 400 KV and a length of 70 km. If the transmission line is built, 5,000 megawatt of electricity can be exchanged. The feasibility study for the Nepal section of the proposed cross-border transmission line has been completed.
In the next meeting, the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) of the cross-border transmission line and the 'modality' of its investment will be discussed, the NEA officials said.
Officials of the Energy Ministry said that if the cross-border transmission line is built, it will open the way for Nepal's electricity trade with China. Till now, Nepal has been buying and selling electricity only with India.
Nepal has been upset because of the Indian policy of not buying electricity produced by Nepali hydropower projects involving Chinese investment or Chinese contractors. If an electrical transmission line is built with China, it will be easy to supply electricity from Nepal to China.
An agreement was signed between Nepal and China for the first time in 2017 to build a cross-border transmission line connecting Ratamate in Nuwakot and China's Tibet. Since then, the cross-border transmission line was discussed during high-level visits between the two countries, but the project could not gain momentum due to various reasons.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were two rounds of technical discussions. In March 2020, amid the pandemic, a discussion was held in Kathmandu between the team of NEA and Grid Corporation of China. Since then, there was no communication between the two countries at the level of government officials about the cross-border transmission line.
During the then Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi's Nepal visit in March 2022, an agreement was signed regarding the extension of the feasibility study for the construction of a 'high voltage' cross-border transmission line. As per the agreement, the feasibility study was extended till 2024.
The day after the energy talks with India, the discussion on the transmission line with China
Coincidentally, the day after the energy secretary-level talks between Nepal and India in New Delhi, Chinese officials are coming to Kathmandu to build a cross-border transmission line with Nepal. On Friday and Saturday, energy officials of Nepal and India discussed various issues including the construction of more cross-border transmission lines in New Delhi.
The former Deuba-led government had handed over various projects to India, including Pashchim Seti and Arun III, to Indian companies. Last year, Deuba took the decision to take back the Budhigandaki project from the hands of the Chinese company and build it with domestic investment.
According to Foreign Ministry sources, the Chinese Embassy and Gezhouba had objected to the decision in writing. Former Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi protested the government's decision to withdraw Budhigandaki from the Chinese company. She said that after the change of government in Nepal, Chinese investors are getting confused when the policy changes. Ambassador Hou's statement was considered meaningful as it came after the decision to withdraw Budhigandaki.
Power trade with Bangladesh is limited to paper
On the other hand, since India did not agree to the proposal made by Nepal to facilitate electricity trade with Bangladesh, no concrete progress has been made in that regard. The NEA has proposed a tripartite meeting between Bangladesh, India and Nepal on cooperation in hydropower trade, but India has not yet agreed to it. It has been many years since the issue of trilateral electricity trade entered high-level exchange of visits between Nepal and India, Nepal and Bangladesh and India and Bangladesh. But no concrete commitment has come from India.
Recently, the Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who visited Bangladesh, was requested by senior officials of Bangladesh to provide transportation facilities for electricity trade with Nepal. In response, Kwatra said, as in the past, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs would discuss it with other Indian leaders.
