ADB to provide $120m loan
Indo-Bangla Power
connectivity
STAFF REPORTER
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is going to help finance the increased transmission capacity of a cross-border electricity link between India and Bangladesh.
This will enable Bangladesh to meet the sharply rising power demand and support increased power exchanges across South Asia.
ADBs loan of USD 120 million to Bangladesh will double the capacity of the existing interconnection system, which links the power grid of western Bangladesh at Bheramara and the grid of eastern India at Berhampur.
An agreement is going to be signed between the Government of Bangladesh and ADB at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) in this regard. This will allow Bangladesh to increase the import of electricity from India to meet the deficit.
The power grid of Bangladesh at Bheramara and the eastern power grid of India at Berhampur were first successfully interconnected in 2013, financed by an ADB loan.
The project will include a 40-km-long 400kV double circuit transmission line from the Bangladesh-India border to Bheramara, a 500MW back-to-back HVDC station at Bheramara and a 230kV interconnection with the western grid of Bangladesh.
The two networks were first interconnected in 2013, under a previous project financed by ADB. The new transmission capacity will rise from 500MW to 1,000 MW.
Sources said that there are power surpluses and shortfalls across the region and this project will help these two countries move forward to utilise their energy-generation capacities in a better way, and to support the broader goal of South Asian regional energy cooperation.
Bangladeshs fast-growing economy has soaring energy needs, but domestic natural gas supplies cannot keep up with demand, resulting in an increasing dependence on oil and diesel-based plants.
To meet the goal of providing electricity for all by 2021, the government is working to increase power generation capacity and to source additional supply.
The initial linking of these two national grids helped India deliver over 2,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity across the border in 2014. For its part, India is rapidly scaling up its power-generating capacity from renewable sources like solar, and some of its regions have surplus energy.
In addition to Bangladesh, India also has transmission links with Bhutan and Nepal, and engages in bilateral electricity trade. Strengthening of regional interconnections is a step forward in the development of a South Asian regional electricity grid, and it will facilitate energy trade between countries in the region.
Interlinking electricity transmission systems allows countries with surplus power to export it to others in need. Interconnected networks have other benefits, too, including increasing the operational efficiency and reliability of existing national grids, and encouraging the development of new renewable power resources, such as hydropower in India, Bhutan, and Nepal, which can be traded among the interconnected countries.
The interconnection project is part of efforts under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program, to promote regional prosperity and improve economic opportunities through strengthened cross-border links for trade, power, road and rail networks. Its members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Along with ADBs loan assistance, the Bangladesh government will provide a financing of USD 63.2 million. The project is expected to be completed in June 2018.
