Analysis: South Asian cross-border energy trade ignores climate risks (Dialogue Earth)

On 3 October, this cooperation achieved a major milestone. Bangladesh’s new regime signed a tripartite agreement to import 40 megawatts (MW) of hydropower from Nepal, via Indian territory. The hydropower potential of Nepal and Bhutan, estimated to be more than 100 gigawatts (GW), will strengthen this energy cooperation.

India had been the lone electricity trading partner for Nepal and Bhutan for decades. This agreement gives the landlocked nations an opportunity to sell their surplus, monsoon-generated hydropower beyond India for the first time.

However, climate impacts may become a complicating factor in energy trade among Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Experts suggest that this scramble for hydropower ignores the impact of climate change upon the Himalayan region.