Mr. Pradeep Kumar Pujari, Secretary, Ministry of Power, India, ensured continuous demand for hydropower in the Indian grid, during his visit to Bhutan to review progress of ongoing joint hydropower ventures.

The Government of India has announced a target to triple its power generation capacity to 800 gigawatts by 2030, to emerge as a power surplus country. It also aims to supply electricity to every village and household by 2021. According to Mr. Pujari, enhanced power supply through renewable sources, including wind and solar, will require a continuous supply of hydropower—wind and solar can lead to power fluctuations; hydropower can balance the grid.

Planned inter-regional grid connectivity under the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) framework and potential power exports to Bangladesh are set to further increase power generated from Bhutan. Energy to be imported by Bangladesh will be transported through transmission grids passing through Indian territory, which Mr. Pujari shared is also in India's interest. Talks on needed infrastructure and technical arrangements between Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India are in progress.

Bhutan and India have signed three hydropower projects under inter-governmental agreement:

• Nikachhu hydropower, a 118 megawatt (MW) project, on the Nikachhu and Chhunabachhu rivers; 
• Kuri-I hydropower, a 1,125 MW project, on the Kurichhu River; and 
• Dagachhu hydropower, a 126 MW project, on the Dagachhu River.

The Second Green Power Development Project, approved by the Asian Development Bank in 2014 under the SASEC Program, supports construction of the run-of-river Nikachhu hydropower generation plant. Bhutan’s Tangsibji Hydro Energy Limited, a subsidiary company of Druk Green Power Corporation, and a consortium of Indian Banks, the State Bank of India and EXIM, provides supplementary funding through a public-private partnership financing modality

Related Links:

• Bhutan’s energy market in India is secure
• India and SAARC in favor of Bhutan’s hydroelectric activity
• Bhutan and ADB Sign $120.5 Million Second Green Power Development Project
• THyE, Indian Banks Sign Loan Agreement for Nikachhu Hydropower
• SASEC Project: Bhutan: Second Green Power Development Project