Bhutan’s plan to become a hydroelectric power juggernaut and battery for surrounding countries could receive a boost if a pair of neighbors sign off on a trilateral agreement.
The draft memorandum of understanding, reportedly circulating amongst Bhutan, Bangladesh and India, would see nearly US$1.25 billion invested into Bhutan’s 1,125-MW Dorjilung hydropower plant.
The project is one of many proposed and being developed in the south Asian country, which has a stated goal of increasing its hydropower capacity to 10,000 MW by the end of the decade.
Both India and Bangladesh — which recently approved $1 billion in financing for Bhutanese hydropower development — already import significant amounts of electricity from the mountainous country with more planned.
HydroWorld.com reported in April that India was greatly in favor of helping Bhutan tap its estimated 30 GW of hydroelectric potential to support its stated effort of providing power to every household by 2021, while the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is working to develop a framework for inter-regional grid connectivity.
